Shaq Joins Former Disney Execs Mehta, Staggs, Mayer
No longer with Disney, former executives join Forest Road Acquisition Corp with Shaquille O’Neal…
File under: Hmmm.
Name something that Shaquille O’Neal and former Disney executives Tom Staggs, Kevin Mayer, and Salil Mehta have in common?
Something called, “Forest Road Acquisition Corp.”
Former Disney Execs Form Forest Road Acquisition Corp
The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin wrote:
On Thursday, a new Special Purpose Acquisition Company called Forest Road Acquisition Corp. filed an S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to raise $250 million from investors to acquire or merge with a company in the technology, media or telecommunications sectors.
The most notable news for Hollywood, however, is who is behind the SPAC: Former Walt Disney Co. COO Tom Staggs, Disney’s former direct-to-consumer chief Kevin Mayer, and former Disney executive VP Salil Mehta. They are joined by NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, film and TV producer Mark Burg (Saw, Two and a Half Men), former Focus Features CEO Peter Schlessel, Martin Luther King III, and executives Teresa Miles Walsh and Sheila Stamps.
Finance executive Keith Horn will be CEO of the SPAC with Zachary Tarica serving as chief investment adviser and Idan Shani serving as COO.
Can Shaq SPAC?
Finally, what exactly is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company? Well, I had no idea either. So, thankfully Weprin added:
Forest Road Acquisition is one of many new SPACs targeting the media, entertainment and technology space. As investors pour billions of dollars into these blank check firms, the question remains as to whether there are enough attractive private companies to take public through the SPAC process.
In the S-1 filing, Forest Road explained, “We believe that our team’s experience in building and executing strategies that combine capabilities and expertise in consumer preferences and technology/product development will differentiate our ability to source a successful partner.”
Got that? Me neither. But let’s see what they can do!