SPAC Hennessy Capital VIII prices upsized $210 million IPO, targeting industrial innovation
IPO Overview
Hennessy Capital Investment VIII, a blank check company formed by Hennessy Capital targeting industrial innovation and energy, raised $210 million by offering 21 million shares at $10. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one right to receive one-twelfth of one share upon the completion of an initial business combination. The company had originally planned to raise $175 million by offering 17.5 million units at the same price.
Hennessy Capital Investment VIII is led by CEO and Chairman Daniel Hennessy, who has led sponsor Hennessy Capital since founding the firm in 2013. He is joined by CFO Nicholas Geeza, the Head of Business Development at Hennessy Capital Growth Strategies. The SPAC plans to target businesses in the industrial innovation and energy transition sectors, focusing on those with an expected aggregate enterprise value of $500 million or greater.
Hennessy has sponsored several previous SPACs. The most recent include Hennessy Capital Investment VII （HVII; +3.5% from $10 offer price）， which announced a merger agreement with gas and SMR power plant developer ONE Nuclear in October 2025; Hennessy Capital Investment VI which merged with gold miner Namib Minerals （NAMM; -63.3%） in June 2025; Hennessy Capital Investment V （HCIC）， which liquidated after canceling plans to merge with self-driving truck tech developer Plus; and Hennessy Capital Acquisition IV, which completed its merger with EV developer Canoo （formerly Nasdaq: GOEV） in 2020 before it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in January 2025.
The Zephyr Cove, NV-based company was founded in 2025 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol HCICU. Barclays and Cohen & Company Securities acted as joint bookrunners on the deal.
About the Company
We are a newly organized blank check company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target with respect to an initial business combination with us. However, our management team engaged in discussions with potential business combination partners in their capacity as officers of Hennessy VII or Compass Digital, and we may pursue potential business combination partners that had previously been in discussions with Hennessy VII or Compass Digital’s management team. While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the industrial innovation and energy transition sectors. We will seek to acquire one or more businesses with an expected aggregate enterprise value of $500 million or greater.