Russell Galbut and partner launch blank check company, plan to raise $100M

Developer Russell Galbut and investor Michael S. Liebowitz formed a blank check company aimed at raising $100 million to invest in travel, hospitality, fintech, insurance tech, proptech and other industries impacted by the pandemic.

The company, called New Beginnings Acquisition Corp. plans to sell 10 million shares priced at $10 each, according to a release. It joins a number of new special-purpose acquisition companies formed in recent months, as blank check firms make a comeback in the real estate industry. The entities have no underlying assets and are formed with the goal of merging with a target company and taking the company public.

Galbut, co-founder and managing principal of Miami-based Crescent Heights, is chairman of New Beginnings. Liebowitz, managing director and executive vice president of Alliant Insurance Services, is director and CEO, according to the release. The two have worked together in the past: in late 2019, Crescent Heights sold 50 percent of its Mondrian South Beach condo-hotel to Liebowitz.

The SPAC plans to target businesses valued between $400 million and $600 million.

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Mergers and acquisitions adviser Benjamin Garrett, Norwegian Cruise Line president and CEO Frank Del Rio, and hospitality executive Kate Walsh will serve on the company’s board of directors, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The offering is set to close on Tuesday.