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Spartacus Acquisition Corp. II
Spartacus Acquisition Corp. II raised $175 million in a 2021 IPO to pursue a media or telecom acquisition, led by broadcast operator Pete Jensen.
Spartacus Acquisition Corp. II
Spartacus Acquisition Corp. II was formed in 2021 as a special-purpose acquisition company, filing to raise $150 million before upsizing to $175 million in its April debut on the Nasdaq under ticker SPRS. Pete Jensen, the former chief financial officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group and co-founder of Trident Acquisitions, serves as chief executive officer. Andrew Plaga, another Trident alumnus, holds the chief financial officer role. The vehicle's formation coincided with a wave of media-and-telecom SPAC issuance, a window that narrowed sharply within months of its listing. Spartacus II delineated its acquisition search to the media, telecom and entertainment sectors — a continuation of the legacy established by the original Spartacus Acquisition Corp., which completed a $606 million merger with ProTV to form Trident Acquisitions, a publicly traded vehicle holding licenses for NEXTGEN TV broadcasters across the United States and Ukraine. The SPAC's investment mandate contemplated targets with enterprise values between $500 million and $3 billion in areas including broadcast, streaming infrastructure, advertising technology and digital media services. The underwriters on the offering were B. Riley Securities and Ladenburg Thalmann. By September 2021, the SPAC had begun engaging with potential targets, though no letter of intent was announced publicly. Spartacus II operated with a 24-month lifecycle, placing the initial deadline for a business combination at April 2023. Jensen's team retained the option to extend the timeline by an additional six months, subject to sponsor contributions into the trust account. The sponsor group repaid roughly $1.2 million in promissory notes during the first half of 2022 to maintain the vehicle's operational position. Spartacus II's structural differentiator was its operational depth by SPAC standards: Jensen had built and sold stations, overseen balance sheets during the Sinclair-Tribune merger attempt, and navigated spectrum repacking at the FCC. That hands-on deal experience — rarer among financial-sponsor SPACs — positioned the vehicle as a potential consolidator of fragmented broadcast assets or a strategic acquirer of ATSC 3.0 infrastructure. The crowdfunding of a de-SPAC remains subject to capital-markets appetite and target availability within its narrowed sector corridor.
General information
Firm type
other
Year founded
2021
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Los Angeles
Corporate office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Principals
Pete Jensen
Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Plaga
Chief Financial Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
What differentiates Spartacus Acquisition Corp. II from the original Spartacus SPAC?
Spartacus II is a smaller follow-on vehicle, raising $175 million compared with the $200 million-plus raised by its predecessor. The original Spartacus completed a merger in April 2021 to form Trident Acquisitions, a holding company for NEXTGEN TV broadcast licenses in the US and Ukraine. Spartacus II retained the same sector focus on media and telecom but entered a far more challenging SPAC market, with heightened redemption rates and stricter regulatory scrutiny.
Who is Pete Jensen, and what operating experience does he bring to the SPAC?
Pete Jensen is the chief executive officer of Spartacus II and a former chief financial officer at Sinclair Broadcast Group. He co-founded Trident Acquisitions and previously served as president of Trident's operating business, which held broadcast spectrum licenses and pursued ATSC 3.0 deployment. His career spans station-level M&A, spectrum auctions, and regulatory navigation at the Federal Communications Commission — operational experience that sets Spartacus II apart from typical financial-sponsor SPACs.
What is the timeline and structure for completing a business combination?
The SPAC listed in April 2021 and operated under a 24-month deadline to complete a business combination, extendable by six months with sponsor contributions. The trust account held approximately $173 million after redemptions. All outstanding warrants and units converted upon a merger completion, with the sponsor holding founder shares subject to earnout and lockup provisions.
What target industries and enterprise values does Spartacus II pursue?
Spartacus II targets media, telecom, and entertainment companies with enterprise values between $500 million and $3 billion. The investment committee has examined broadcast stations, digital advertising platforms, streaming-technology providers, content studios, and telecom infrastructure operators. The fund's principals have sought targets where their operational expertise in station management and spectrum deployment can transform a private company into a more valuable public entity.
How did the SPAC market environment affect Spartacus II's acquisition prospects?
Spartacus II completed its IPO just as the SPAC market peaked, with over 300 vehicles searching for targets by mid-2021. Rising redemption rates — often exceeding 80% for deals announced after September 2021 — compressed available trust capital. Combined with the SEC's proposed rules on SPAC projections and underwriter liability, the environment required sponsors to source high-quality, profitable targets that could withstand public-market scrutiny without the aggressive forward projections that characterized earlier de-SPACs.
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