Pinault and Pigasse join forces on entertainment-focused SPAC

PARIS (Reuters) - The holding companies of French business billionaire Francois Pinault's family and banker Matthieu Pigasse announced on Wednesday the creation of I2PO, a SPAC aiming to raise an initial 250 million euros ($294.50 million) and target the entertainment industry.

The SPAC will be led by Iris Knobloch, I2PO's chairman and chief executive who built her career at WarnerMedia.

A SPAC, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company, is a shell company with no operational activity whose securities are issued on the stock market for a limited time with the aim of making one or more acquisitions in a particular sector.

Francois-Henri Pinault, the son of Francois Pinault, will represent the Pinault family on the board of I2PO, the first European SPAC dedicated to the entertainment and leisure sectors.

I2PO said the initial 250 million euro private placement was part of a listing on Euronext Paris, and could be increased to 300 million euros.

The offer period begins on July 14 and ends two days later, I2PO said.

Francois Pinault, whose family holding company Artemis controls luxury group Kering, invested in March in another SPAC set up by former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam.

In February, Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH - Kering's main rival - launched a SPAC with former Unicredit chief executive Jean-Pierre Mustier focusing on the European financial services sector.

($1 = 0.8489 euros)

(Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Louise Heavens)