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Opinion
Chris Hughes and Lionel Laurent

The Paris Billionaire Set Bets Its Reputation on a SPAC

A who’s who of European business is backing the $8 billion listing of TV and betting firm FL Entertainment. Stay tuned: This will be addictive viewing.

The recipe’s simple. Take a TV company, add a few more, top off with a gambling app and mix with a SPAC.

The recipe’s simple. Take a TV company, add a few more, top off with a gambling app and mix with a SPAC.

Corrected

French capitalism’s greatest hits have tended to mix ambitious entrepreneurs, complex financial structures and hefty doses of debt. The latest deal in Europe’s SPAC adventure ticks all those boxes.

Undeterred by the bursting of the bubble in US blank-check firms last year, a who’s who of European business is out to prove that the special purpose acquisition company isn’t just about speculative excess. These assorted moguls have done a clever deal. The question is whether it will be too clever for the stock market.