(Bloomberg) — Omeed Malik’s special purpose acquisition company Colombier Acquisition Corp. II is close to an agreement to merge with online firearms dealer GrabAGun, a deal likely shunned by many other Wall Street investors due to ESG principles.
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The deal values GrabAGun at about $150 million and could be announced as soon as Monday, assuming talks don’t fall through at the last minute, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Malik, a former executive of Bank of America Corp., is chairman and CEO of Colombier. He is also the founder of commercial bank Farvahar Partners and investment firm 1789 Capital, which has a mandate that includes supporting companies affected by environmental, social and governance investment principles and operating in a parallel economy focused on conservative values.
Malik’s first SPAC merged with PSQ Holdings Inc., the owner of the online marketplace PublicSquare that aims to connect “patriotic” consumers and companies such as EveryLife, a diaper manufacturer that describes itself as “pro-life.” He was part of a core group of financiers of newly elected President Donald Trump’s campaign.
In October, PSQ launched a payments business and expects to process more than $1.8 billion in gun and firearms-related transactions by 2025, a person familiar with the matter had told Bloomberg. Last month, PSQ appointed Donald Trump Jr., a partner at 1789, to its board.
Dallas-based GrabAGun, led by CEO Marc Nemati, is profitable and generating about $100 million in revenue in 2024, the people said. The company, founded in 2011 and which sells firearms, ammunition and other apparel, cites the Second Amendment on its website and says it believes it is its “American duty” to help consumers understand and legally secure their firearms and accessories .
Representatives for GrabAGun and Colombier declined to comment.
Colombier, based in Palm Beach, Florida, raised $170 million in an initial public offering in November 2023. Its shares closed Friday at $11.79 each, giving it a market value of about $200 million. In a stock filing ahead of the IPO, the company said it could focus on opportunities including “sectors with reduced value due to certain investor mandates.”