UK’s Hugh Osmond plans to make a stock market comeback with float of $400M

Hugh Osmond is planning on floating the cash shell Broadstone in New York within the next couple of weeks. The entrepreneur who guided PizzaExpress into becoming one of Britain’s largest food chain is now planning on making a stock market comeback by listing Broadstone to a UK company that was hit hard from the coronavirus pandemic.

Reports have indicated that the private equity firm that Mr Osmond works at, Sun Capital Partners, are setting up a blank cheque plan of attack in New York City in the upcoming weeks.

The goal is to have the Broadstone Acquisition Corp listing to raise between $300 and $400 million dollars. According to people briefed in on the plan the takeover of the company could be double that of the listing price.

Within recent weeks Mr Osmond has been having chats with institutional investors about the listing. A prospective shareholder stated on Friday that feedback about the plan had been “overwhelmingly postitive”. Another member briefed on the plan had also stated that a filing to the American security regulators may be possible within the next month.

If the deal goes off without a hitch, it could see Mr Osmond being a part of the first time that a United Kingdom focused SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) has been floated within the US exchange.

The goal for Broadstone is that it will focus on helping out companies that have been seriously impaired by the pandemic. Since thousands of companies have had to take on unwanted debt during this time, it could potentially help out a lot of people. The capital provided from Broadstone could align the books of a target company by paying down their debt. The can then focus on transforming into a consolidator.