Far Point Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC, FPAC.UN, and FPAC.WS), a special purpose acquisition company ("FPAC"), today announced certain developments with respect to the previously announced pending business combination transaction (the "Transaction") with Global Blue Group AG ("Global Blue").

(Bloomberg) -- Silver Lake has built up a 12% holding in Far Point Acquisition Corp., the blank-check company backed by Daniel Loeb’s Third Point, to help push through a merger with its portfolio company Global Blue, a filing showed Wednesday.Silver Lake is the controlling shareholder of Global Blue, which provides tax-refund services to tourists and agreed in January to merge with Far Point. It’s one of the many deals in danger of falling apart following a pandemic that has hurt the global economy.Silver Lake said in the filing, which confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report, that it acquired the stock with the intention of voting its shares in favor of the deal. The private equity firm will now have a greater say in the upcoming vote which requires 50.1% of shareholder approval, but there’s no guarantee it will go in its favor. A previous filing showed that 25% of parties had already agreed to vote for the deal. The vote date has not been set.Far Point, which has a market valuation of about $800 million, said in a statement Wednesday that its board and management are working with outside legal advisers to review Silver Lake’s proposal and have requested additional information from the private equity firm.Silver Lake also said it would add to the value of the deal to shareholders by converting a $168 million cash dividend to boost the company’s liquidity and hold discussions to try boost the value of the stock warrants in the deal. It said it would match any shares that Far Point’s founders wants to put into the deal and collaborate with Far Point to reduce fees and expenses for shareholders.Far Point management said in early May that the impact of Covid-19 on Global Blue meant the transaction was no longer in shareholders’ best interests and urged them to vote against it. Global Blue responded by saying Far Point’s investors would benefit by letting the merger go ahead.Global Blue, a Swiss company, owns kiosks at airports and stores like London’s Harrods that let shoppers claim sales-tax refunds when they fly home.The global travel industry has been badly hit by the spread of the coronavirus, as countries have brought in lockdowns and restricted the movement of people across borders. Airlines, hotels and cruise lines have all struggled with liquidity. Latam Airlines Group SA is among the latest to fall, filing for bankruptcy in New York.Silver Lake noted in the filing Wednesday that if the deal doesn’t go through, the special-purpose acquisition company is likely to liquidate on September 14. Global Blue has argued that Far Point investors would get likely get as much or more cash than they would in a liquidation by letting the deal close and then redeeming their shares.Management at Far Point, whose chairman is former NYSE President Tom Farley, have argued that the pandemic will have a significant negative impact on Global Blue and said it may lack capital to fund operations and satisfy financial obligations.Ant Financial, the financial services affiliate of Chinese tech tycoon Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., agreed in January to invest $350 million in Global Blue as part of the deal with Far Point.(Updates with Far Point’s response in fourth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Hedge fund titan Daniel Loeb changed his mind about a merger, but the private-equity firm is offering sweeteners to win approval.

Global Blue, a leading strategic technology and payments partner empowering global merchants to capture the growth of international shoppers, today announced it will become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with Far Point Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC), a special purpose acquisition company co-sponsored by the institutional asset manager Third Point LLC and former NYSE President Thomas W. Farley. Veteran public company executive and current Global Blue CEO Jacques Stern will continue to lead the company's existing management team, and Mr. Farley will become Chairman of Global Blue. Current investors, including Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, will remain significant shareholders in the combined company. New investors, anchored by Ant Financial Services Group, a member of the Alibaba digital economy and operator of the world's leading payment and lifestyle platform Alipay, and Third Point, have committed to invest a total of $350 million in the combined company at a €2.3 billion (approximately $2.6 billion) enterprise valuation in the form of a private placement. The new public company will be incorporated in Switzerland and will trade as Global Blue under ticker symbol NYSE: "GB" upon closing.

Far Point Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC, FPAC.UN, and FPAC.WS), a special purpose acquisition company ("FPAC"), today announced that, after careful consideration and consultation with its management and outside legal advisors, its board of directors ("Board"):

Rating Action: Moody's downgrades Global Blue to B2; outlook negative. Global Credit Research- 31 Mar 2020. London, 31 March 2020-- Moody's Investors Service, today has downgraded the ratings of Global ...

Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") today has placed the ratings of Global Blue Finance S.à r.l. This rating action follows Global Blue's announcement that it will be listed on the NYSE through a merger with Far Point Acquisition Corporation (FPAC), a special purpose acquisition company co-sponsored by the institutional asset manager Third Point LLC.

The blank-check company has advised its shareholders to vote against the deal, agreed to in January.

Every investor in Far Point Acquisition Corporation (NYSE:FPAC) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder...

(Bloomberg) -- Activist investor Dan Loeb is attempting to scrap a $2.5 billion deal that bet on luxury shoppers’ tax refunds, saying Global Blue SA’s viability is in question as the coronavirus pandemic decimates international travel.Loeb’s Far Point Acquisition Corp. said Thursday that its January deal to merge with Global Blue is now no longer in shareholders’ interests, and urged investors to vote against the transaction. Global Blue, which is owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, responded that Far Point’s investors would be better off letting the transaction go ahead.The merger, which included an investment from Chinese tycoon Jack Ma, was a bet on travelers splurging when abroad -- a vision that’s in tatters after the pandemic emptied airliners and shuttered shopping districts. Global Blue, a Swiss company, owns kiosks at airports and stores like London’s Harrods that let shoppers claim sales-tax refunds when they fly home.“Global Blue management has informed FPAC that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant negative impact,” Far Point said in a statement. Far Point’s management “believes, based on its assessment of information received from Global Blue, that there is a likelihood that Global Blue will lack sufficient capital and liquidity to fund its operations.”Far Point was started in 2018 by Loeb’s Third Point and former New York Stock Exchange President Thomas Farley as a “blank-check company” to acquire financial technology firms. Farley said in January that the Global Blue deal would be followed by more M&A. Far Point, whose shares are thinly traded, spiked when the deal was announced in January, but since drifted about 20% lower.Under the terms of the January deal, Global Blue was to receive $1 billion of investment from Far Point and new investors including Ma as part of a deal that would value the Swiss firm at 2.3 billion euros ($2.5 billion) including debt and list it on the New York Stock Exchange. Either side can call off the transaction if it isn’t completed by the end of August.“We believe that a majority of FPAC shareholders will recognize that the transaction will serve their interests a well as those of Global Blue,” the Swiss company said. “Rejecting the transaction likely will result in a liquidation of FPAC, according to its charter. And warrants would expire worthless in such a liquidation.”Global Blue argued that Far Point investors would get likely get more cash than they would in a liquidation by letting the deal close and then selling their shares. Far Point “was structured with the backing of substantial financial institutions to ensure that Global Blue would receive the financing it needs even in the event of significant shareholder redemptions,” it said.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.