Goodwin, Gibson Dunn steer trading platform Forge’s SPAC merger
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- Goodwin Procter advises Forge Global
- Gibson Dunn working with Motive Capital Corp
- Mayer Brown advises placement agents
(Reuters) – Three law firms are crafting private securities trading platform Forge Global Inc’s plans to go public through a $2 billion tie-up with special purpose acquisition company Motive Capital Corp.
Forge and Motive Capital announced the deal on Monday, as other trading platforms have used SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, to debut on the stock exchanges.
Goodwin Procter is advising San Francisco-based Forge, a marketplace that allows people to trade in shares of private companies, on the business combination.
Motive Capital, which is sponsored by affiliates of technology-focused investment firm Motive Partners GP LLC, has paired with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
The firm’s team is led by corporate partners Shukie Grossman and Evan D’Amico. Grossman counts Motive Partners among his representative clients, according to his firm profile.
Gibson Dunn also guided Motive Partners on a July deal that saw Apollo Global Management Inc purchase a nearly 25% stake in the investment firm.
SPACs raise funds through initial public offerings to purchase privately held companies and take them public.
The Motive Capital SPAC tapped Kirkland & Ellis and Ropes & Gray for guidance on its December 2020 IPO, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show.
The SPAC’s merger with Forge is expected to wrap up in the fourth quarter of 2021 or first quarter of 2022.
Forge’s financial advisors are Financial Technology Partners LP and FTP Securities LLC (FT Partners), and its capital market advisors are JMP Securities LLC, Piper Sandler, Oppenheimer & Co Inc and William Blair & Co LLC.
Motive Capital’s financial advisor is UBS Investment Bank and its strategic adviser is Oliver Wyman.
UBS Investment Bank and J.P. Morgan also served as the blank-check company’s capital markets advisors and placement agents. Mayer Brown is representing the placement agents with a team led by capital markets partners Anna Pinedo and Brian Hirshberg.
Forge and Motive Capital announced their merger just over two months after cryptocurrency exchange Bullish said that it was eying a stock market debut through its $9 billion union with a SPAC.
Robinhood Markets Inc, the owner of the trading app, opted for the traditional IPO and went public in July.
Read more:
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Law firm quintet tapped for crypto exchange Bullish’s $9 bln SPAC merger
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