Navigation Capital Partners SPAC Operations Significantly Expands SPAC Portfolio

ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Navigation Capital Partners (Navigation), an Atlanta-based private equity firm, today announced significant expansion of its SPAC Operations portfolio by funding three special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Navigation launched its SPAC Operations Group in 2019.

In December 2020, Navigation:

• Co-invested with Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) and Loop Capital to sponsor D and Z Media Acquisition Corp. Led by Betty Liu and Mark Wiltamuth, the blank check company intends to focus on acquisitions related to media, education technology (“ed-tech”), and other related industries.
• Invested in KINS Technology Group (Nasdaq: KINZ.U): a SPAC that announced an upsized IPO of $240 million on December 15, 2020. The blank check company focused on transformational technology businesses is led by Khurram Sheikh and Eric Zimits, and is underwritten by UBS Investment Bank, Stifel, and BTIG.
• Led a private investment in a public entity (PIPE) in AVCtechnologies (Nasdaq: AVCT). On December 2, AVCtechnologies completed an acquisition of Kandy Communications, positioning the company as a premier white label provider for UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS products.

Leveraging the experience, network, and performance history of its principals, the focus of SPAC Operations is to identify and partner with successful CEOs who have proven track records to launch SPACs. Navigation also makes anchor investments in attractive SPAC IPOs and provides “backstops” against investor redemptions for SPACs who are completing their business combinations.

Additionally, Navigation has partnered with the New York Stock Exchange to accelerate and simplify the SPAC life cycle through a proprietary SPAC-in-a-Box^TM Operating System. The SPAC-in-a-Box^TM Operating System utilizes a concurrent SPAC vehicle and standard processes to protect the at-risk sponsor capital and shorten the time it takes to close a business combination.

The past year gave rise to the most active SPAC market in history with 248 SPACs announced—more than four times the number raised in 2019 and 55 percent of all 2020 IPOs, according to SPAC Analytics. “We’ve laser-focused our attention on SPACs as an investment vehicle as we see compelling opportunities ahead for this arena,” said Larry Mock, managing partner of Navigation. “It’s our vision that the future of SPACs will transform the IPO market, and we intend to lead the way.”

Navigation is accredited as a Diverse Asset Manager by the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), and the SPAC Operations team has grown from four part-time employees in April to twelve full-time team members today.

About Navigation Capital Partners

Navigation Capital Partners (NCP) is an Atlanta-based private equity firm focused exclusively on investing in a diverse portfolio of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”). The principals of NCP formerly founded and managed Mellon Ventures, the private equity investment partnership of Mellon Financial Corporation. With the backing of Goldman Sachs Private Equity Opportunities Fund LP, NCP acquired the private equity portfolio of Mellon Ventures in December 2006. In 2019, NCP launched SPAC Operations Group which builds on the NCP legacy of transforming relatively small, high-growth companies into medium-sized ones and selling them to larger private equity firms to take them to the next level. In the 15 years since its inception, NCP has invested $330 million in 41 portfolio companies, generating attractive returns for its investors. NCP is minority-owned and a member of the National Association of Investment Companies. For more information, visit www.navigationcapital.com.