The aim is to take over a start-up valued at between EUR 500 million and EUR 1.5 billion.
(Photo: ddp images / Sven Simon)
Düsseldorf, San Francisco He no longer just wants to be a “preacher” of technological progress, says Gisbert Rühl. He now wants to “execute”: As announced on Thursday morning by ad hoc announcement, the ex-CEO of the Duisburg steel trader Klöckner & Co. is planning a Spac IPO in Frankfurt.
The aim of the company is to collect at least 125 million euros and take over a start-up in the field of sustainability. “Germany is a leader in social, environmentally friendly and responsible companies,” Rühl told Handelsblatt. He is thinking, for example, of many promising technology companies that are reducing CO2 emissions in the energy and food sectors.
Rühls Spac will then be the third financial vehicle of its kind in Frankfurt. The abbreviation stands for Special Purpose Acquisition Company and means special purpose companies that are only founded to collect money on the stock exchange for the takeover of a start-up and thus give it quick access to the public capital market.
As a rule, there is an experienced management team behind this, which also offers its support to a young company with less experienced entrepreneurs. This idea triggered a huge hype in the USA, especially in 2020.
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Spacs have fallen into disrepute
But the storm of enthusiasm has long since subsided. It quickly became clear that the initiators of many Spacs only had their own interests in mind and not those of the takeover targets and, above all, of the investors. Many of the currently more than 400 US Spacs are – and have been so far – designed in such a way that they can exit at a profit regardless of the success of the IPO. This has already led to massive criticism from observers and has brought the vehicle into disrepute.
Gisbert Rühl knows about this difficult starting position: “There were unpleasant exaggerations, and in the spring some Spacs were rightly under the wheels,” he says. Selfish behavior is not accepted on the capital market. “We will only earn money with the Spac if the investors also earn money,” said the manager. In addition, he is already thinking about future Spacs: only if the first takeover company had good experiences with him and his team would other entrepreneurs also be interested in working together.
At least Rühl and his colleagues, the investor and entrepreneur Florian Fritsch and Josef Brunner, the former head of the technology company Relayr, are putting their personal brand at risk. They named their company GFJ ESG Acquisition I SE – after their own first names and the three dimensions of sustainability: Environment, Social and Governance. Specifically, according to Rühl, they want to provide support when it comes to preparing a roadshow, positioning the company on the capital market and dealing with investors.
Up to 1.5 billion euros in volume
The aim is now to take over a start-up with a valuation of EUR 500 million to EUR 1.5 billion. With additional so-called pipe financing from further major investors, the company could also be valued higher.
When making the selection, it is important to Rühl that the company is already generating relevant sales and has shown in individual markets that it can be profitable. A case like the air taxi company Lilium, which does not yet have a marketable product, is “not an option” for him. The Munich start-up recently went public in New York with the help of a Spac.
For Rühl himself it is not the first Spac experience. He is chairman of the supervisory board of one of the two Spacs listed in Frankfurt. Specifically, it is the Spac from 468 Capital, which has taken over the game company Boxine. The share was last listed at just under twelve euros, it was issued for ten euros. With the merger of the Lakestar-Spacs with the holiday home platform Hometogo, however, things are not looking so good. The share is quoted at eight euros after it was also issued for ten euros.
Like the initiators of the other two Frankfurt stock exchanges, Rühl points to opportunities that could bring more Spacs in Germany: “For years we have been complaining that there is not enough European money for larger financing rounds.” With Spacs, this gap could be resolved on our own conclude. As a so-called angel investor, Rühl has been investing in very young start-up projects for a long time and is therefore familiar with the sector.
Even as Klöckner boss, Rühl made a name for himself in the start-up scene when he set up the steel trader’s digital unit after a stay in Silicon Valley – initially in a coworking space in Berlin. The SDax group now makes a large part of its sales via digital channels – which is unusual in an industry in which fax and mail are still used a lot. In addition, Rühl founded a so-called corporate start-up with the XOM trading platform, the majority of which is still owned by the Klöckner Group.
More: Hometogo boss Andrae on the Spac IPO: “Of course, speed was an argument”