Tampa investment firm launches initial public offering for healthcare operation

SCP & CO, a private investment firm in Tampa, has formed a new company that it plans to take public.

The new firm, SCP & CO Healthcare Acquisition Company, plans to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering.

The newly formed company is a “blank check” business, a development stage firm with no business operation of its own. It plans to acquire or merge with an established healthcare company, initially targeting information-driven and tech-enabled services, digital health and related infrastructure, diagnostics and personalized care solutions, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SCP & CO is the new name for what was Skyway Group Private Equity Funds and before that, Skyway Capital Partners. The firm, which rebranded in August, is headed by Scott Feuer, CEO, and Bryan Crino, president. Joseph Passero is chief financial officer.

Since its inception in 2002, SCP & CO has completed over 80 transactions totaling $1.8 billion of aggregate transaction volume.

The company has brought on some heavy-hitters to serve on the board of the healthcare firm. Besides Feuer and Crino, the proposed directors are:

• Alan Gold, executive chairman of Innovative Industrial Properties’ (NYSE: IIPR) board of directors and executive chairman of IQHQ, a REIT servicing clients in the life science and pharmaceutical industries.

• Tim Main, chairman and former CEO of Jabil (NYSE: JBL), a manufacturing services company headquartered in St. Petersburg. Main also serves on the board of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX).

• David Kretschmer, chief investment officer for North Bristol Partners LLC, a Santa Monica-based family office, and a senior advisor on healthcare and corporate finance for a $10 billion management consulting firm.

• Randy Parker, founder & CEO of GeniusRx, a full-service digital pharmacy.

SCP & CO Healthcare Acquisition plans to offer 20 million units at $10. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one-half of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the proposed market size, the company’s market value would be $250 million, according to Renaissance Capital, a pre-IPO institutional research firm.

The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol SHACU. Barclays and Piper Sandler are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

A successful IPO by the newly formed firm could reverse a trend in which the Tampa-St. Petersburg area that has seen a shrinking number of publicly traded companies. Tech Data, a Clearwater-based IT distributor, went private earlier this year, as did Tampa-based health insurance technology firm Benefytt Technologies.