Hugh Osmond to return to stock market with $400m float

Sun Capital Partners founder Hugh Osmond is set to embark on a stock market comeback in listing a cash shell to target a UK company affected by the coronavirus crisis.

According to Sky News, Osmond and his colleagues are drawing up plans to list a “blank cheque” company, Broadstone Acquisition Corp, in New York in the coming weeks.

The listing will aim to raise between $300m and $400m, with a takeover likely to be valued at double that.

If completed successfully, the initial public offering of Broadstone would mark a return to listed markets for Osmond and would be the first time that a UK-focused special acquisition company (SPAC) has been floated on the US exchange.

Osmond’s Sun Capital Partners currently backs Strada and Coppa Club, and sources have said that he is likely to target a deal in an industry in which he has invested successfully in the past, such as hospitality, leisure or insurance.

Investment bank Citi has been appointed to work on the deal.