Topps goes public with a $ 1.3 billion SPAC deal

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Topps announced Tuesday that it plans to merge with a special-purpose procurement company, or SPAC, into a $ 1.3 billion business that values ​​Topps. The company will combine with an unfinished check company called Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II, (sludges) or MUDS. MUDS shares appeared in more than 15% of the news.

The transaction also includes a so-called private investment in public capital (or PIPE) of $ 250 million.

Topps has been a listed company several times during its 83 years of activity. Most recently, the company was privatized in 2007 by The Tornante Co., an investment firm run by the former Disney (early) CEO Michael Eisner in a $ 385 million deal.

Demand (and prices) for baseball cards and other collectibles have been on the roof lately due to the 21st century turn of business in the new popularity of NFTs.

Topps has recently expanded its business to sell digital editions of its player cards, each with a unique NFT built on blockchain technology. This creates a deficit value that makes them more desirable to collectors – and more valuable.

Topps is “well placed with a universally recognized brand to capitalize on the rapidly emerging market for collectible NFTs,” Jason Mudrick, founder and investment director of Mudrick Capital, said in a statement.

Eisner, who will remain president of Topps after the completion of the SPAC merger, added in the statement that there is “a strong emotional connection between the Topps brand and consumers of all ages.”

Topps has a “growing portfolio of strategic licensing partnerships” that will help make it profitable, he said. The company owns the Bazooka gum brand, as well as the Ring Pop, Baby Bottle Pop and Juicy Drop brands with candy and sour gel.

But given the current craze for collectibles, Topps’ baseball book business is the main attraction.

Dapper Labs, a Canadian blockchain firm that developed the NBA crypto-collector Top Shot, recently raised more than $ 300 million from a group that includes basketball legend Michael Jordan and current Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant. Dapper, which also developed CryptoKitties, is now valued at $ 2.6 billion, according to data provided by research firm CB Insights.

Wealthy investors are increasingly betting on sports trading books, in addition to more traditional assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate.

To that end, a rookie book signed in 2000 for football legend Tom Brady just sold for nearly $ 2.3 million in an auction last week. This was a record price that exceeded the previous all-time high of $ 1.3 million that another rookie card Brady set just weeks earlier.

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