Online grocery retailer Boxed to go public via $900 million SPAC deal

(Reuters) -Online bulk grocery retailer Boxed Inc said on Monday it would go public through a merger with blank-check firm Seven Oaks Acquisition Corp, in a deal valuing the equity of the combined firm at around $900 million.

The transaction is expected to provide Boxed with about $334 million in net cash proceeds, including a $120 million private investment from investors such as Brigade Capital Management, Avanda Investment Management and Onex Credit.

The deal, which used a mix of stock and structured notes to raise funds, highlights how SPAC sponsors are being creative in finding funding sources to get a deal to the finish line amid a slowdown in such funding across Wall Street.

Markets are worried that SPACs have taken many companies public at valuations that are too high, leading investors to nurse losses after rallies reversed following a steep climb in share prices after the deals were announced.

SPACs are shell companies that raise funds through an IPO to take a private company public through a merger at a later date.

Founded in 2013, Boxed sells household products, groceries, health supplies, and more in bulk quantities to households and businesses, its website showed.

Seven Oaks, a so-called special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, raised nearly $260 million through an initial public offering (IPO) last year.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Citi and PJ Solomon are serving as financial advisors to Boxed, while Wells Fargo Securities, Nomura and JonesTrading Institutional Services are acting as capital markets and financial advisors to Seven Oaks.

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