By David S. Wallens
Hmm, kind of concerned about this, especially if things change for the worse, since going Public, it always feels like shareholders matter more than the actual customers...
The Hagerty name, once a family insurance agency that eventually moved from boats to specialty cars to a lifestyle automotive brand, will soon find itself listed on the New York Stock Exchange as Hagerty, Inc.
The reason for the move from Traverse City to Wall Street? Today’s announcement of a merger with Adel Capital.
On April 12, Businesswire shared a release on Aldel’s initial funding:
Aldel Financial Inc. (the “Company”), a newly organized blank check company formed as a Delaware corporation and led by Chairman and CEO Robert Kauffman (former co-founder of Fortress Investment Group, LLC), today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 11,500,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit.
From the same release, a little more about Adel Financial:
Aldel Financial Inc. is a blank check company, also commonly referred to as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. While Aldel Financial Inc. will not limit its search for a target company to any particular business segment, it will concentrate its focus on companies exiting the restructuring process, or businesses that have transient current ownership.
Kauffman, as explained on Adel’s site, isn’t new to the collector car world:
Mr. Kauffman is on the Board of Directors of University Bancorp, Hagerty Insurance, and an advisory board member of McLaren Racing, a leading UK based Formula1 racing team. Mr. Kauffman is currently the chairman of the Race Team Alliance, an association of NASCAR Cup Series teams; the co-owner of Chip Ganassi Racing, an American racing team active in the IndyCar and NASCAR race series; and the owner of RK Motors, a leading restorer, reseller and provider of classic cars and Speed Digital, a SaaS business focused on the collector car market. Mr. Kauffman is also an investor and advisory board member of Off-the-Chain Capital, a cryptocurrency focused hedge fund.
The merger also includes, from the release, strategic investors State Farm and Markel Corporation. Markel Corporation, a diversified financial holding company, already owns Essentia Insurance Company, one of Hagerty’s underwriters.
The merger, according to the release, “provides cash proceeds to fuel Hagerty's strategy to accelerate its digital innovation initiatives.”
Also from the release:
Upon the closing of the transaction, Aldel will be renamed Hagerty, Inc., and become publicly traded, with its common stock expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HGTY.
Hmm, kind of concerned about this, especially if things change for the worse, since going Public, it always feels like shareholders matter more than the actual customers...
I wondered the same thing. I guess time will tell.
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