Eric and Trump Jr-backed manufacturing SPAC files for $300 million US IPO

By Ateev Bhandari and Koh Gui Qing

(Reuters) -New America Acquisition I Corp, a blank-check firm backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., filed on Monday for an initial public offering of up to $300 million in the United States.

The move is the latest in a series of ventures by U.S. President Donald Trump’s family, including a meme coin launched in January and World Liberty Financial, a crypto company partly owned by the president.

The Trump brothers have announced a succession of new business ventures in the past year, serving as paid advisors on corporate boards and expanding their investments in a financial firm, golf courses, hotels, telecom and crypto miners, ventures that they say echo the president’s policies and agendas.

Eric and Trump Jr. will both serve on the advisory board for New America, receiving a combined five million shares in the company. Media veteran Kevin McGurn will lead the company. He declined a Reuters request for comment.

Kyle Wool, the chief executive officer of Dominari Securities — which is underwriting New America’s offering — is also on the board of New America. The Trump brothers are also among the biggest shareholders in Dominari Holdings, the parent company of Dominari Securities.

“The brothers’ five-million founder shares, plus advisory roles for Dominari Securities’ Kyle Wool, mean governance could be watched closely,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital.

The brothers have previously used other special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) to launch firearms retailers and media firms.

New America said in the filing that it aims to buy businesses with a combined enterprise value of $700 million or more, and will target companies that “play a meaningful role in revitalizing domestic manufacturing, expanding innovation ecosystems, and strengthening critical supply chains.”

These businesses will be headquartered or primarily operating in the United States and might be engaged in industries such as aerospace and critical minerals, New America said.

Since taking office, Trump has unraveled decades of trade relationships in pursuit of protectionist trade measures that he believes are necessary for national security.

SPACs are shell companies that use their IPO proceeds to merge with a private company, thereby taking it public while avoiding the regulatory scrutiny of a traditional listing.

New America said it would offer 30 million units in its IPO priced at $10 each, aiming to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

D. Boral Capital is the other underwriter for the offering.

(Reporting by Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru and Koh Gui Qing in New York; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Daniel Wallis and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)