Branson reportedly eyes Amsterdam for first European SPAC

Billionaire Richard Branson is reportedly looking to Amsterdam rather than London for his first European-listed special purpose acquisition company. Sky News reported that Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, is looking at a €200 million ($226 million) listing on the Euronext Amsterdam. Branson has already taken Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit public through mergers with blank-check companies in the U.S., and Virgin’s SPACs have merged with 23andMe and set plans to do so with Grove Collaborative.

Euronext says it accounted for 49% of new SPACs listed in Europe last year. The U.K. last year relaxed SPAC rules in an effort to bring them to the London Stock Exchange. European stocks turned lower Friday after the U.S. jobs report showed a further decline in the unemployment rate and a pickup in wages, even as there was a smaller-than-forecast 199,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls. The German DAX dropped 0.8% and the French CAC 40  dropped 0.5%, while the FTSE 100  traded steady, as the rise in bond yields boosted the financial sector, and the pickup in oil prices helped lift energy producers including BP STMicroelectronics  rallied 5% in Milan after the chipmaker guided for a stronger-than-forecast fourth quarter.