Helikos SE of Luxembourg (ISIN: LU0472835155) was the first special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to go public on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in February 2010.
As a newly founded shell company, Helikos had two years to acquire a target company.
On 21 July, its Extraordinary General Meeting resolved to acquire exceet Group AG and to do business under the name of exceet Group SE in the future. According to information provided by the company, exceet Group is a leading European provider of intelligent electronics and card-based security technology.
“The German capital market still has relatively little experience of special purpose acquisition companies. We welcome the fact that following its 2010 IPO, SPAC Helikos SE has now taken the second step and acquired a target company,” said Barbara Georg, Head of Listing & Issuer Services at Deutsche Börse. “Target companies may be successful SMEs; the route through a SPAC is an alternative way for them to get access to the stock exchange.”
Roland Lienau, previously CEO of Helikos SE and now director of exceet Group SE, commented: “In exceet, we have found a hidden champion in the fast-growing market for embedded intelligent electronics, with strong potential for future growth.”
On 4 February 2010, Helikos had a total of 20 million shares included in trading. The share's initial listing price was €9.50. exceet Group SE’'s initial listing price today was €9.90.
