The IPO Buzz: Lafayette Acquisition (LAFAU) of Paris Raises $100 Million

Lafayette Acquisition Corp. (LAFAU) of Paris – a SPAC whose CEO Christophe Charlier is the former chairman of Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital – raised $100 million on Thursday night, Oct. 23, 2025. Lafayette Acquisition priced its SPAC IPO in sync with the terms in the prospectus – 10 million units at $10.00 each. Each unit consists of one share of stock and one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of a share of stock upon the consummation of an initial business combination.

Lafayette Acquisition Corp. (LAFAU) is expected to start trading on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, on the NASDAQ.

EarlyBirdCapital was the sole book-runner.

At pricing, Lafayette Acquisition Corp. (LAFAU) became the 108^th SPAC IPO to get done in 2025.

The Parisian SPAC has not chosen a target sector or geography, according to the prospectus.

“We will not be limited to target businesses in any specific industry or geographic location, but intend to focus mainly on companies in the United States and on industries in which our officers and directors have had significant experience throughout their careers, which include, among others, energy, food/agri-tech, mining and metals, telecoms, financial services/fintech, natural resources, sports and entertainment, healthcare and technology,” the prospectus said.

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Christophe Charlier has served as the chairman and CEO of Lafayette Acquisition Corp. since May 2025, according to the prospectus.

“Mr. Charlier is an international financier with 30 years of experience in investment banking, private equity and international management,” the prospectus said. “Throughout his career, he has acted as principal or advised on a number of landmark transactions in the telecom, financial services, natural resources, energy and sports and entertainment industries across developed and emerging markets.”

He also has extensive public market and SPAC experience, the prospectus said, noting that he is an independent director of Tavia Acquisition Corp., a SPAC seeking to consummate a business combination, and La Française de l’Energie, a publicly held French clean energy production company. He also served as an independent director of Oxus Acquisition Corp., which successfully completed a business combination in February 2024.

Charlier served as chairman of the board of directors of Renaissance Capital, a Moscow-based investment bank that specializes in emerging and frontier markets, from April 2017 to March 2020.

Previously, he served as deputy CEO of Onexim Group, a private equity fund founded by Mikhail Prokhorov in Moscow from September 2008 to June 2014. In this capacity, he served on the boards of directors of several of Russia’s largest companies, some of which were listed on international exchanges, and on the boards of several mid-size companies and startups in Onexim’s portfolio.

He also acted as chairman and alternate governor of the NBA’s Nets franchise from 2010 to 2014, its last two seasons in New Jersey and first two in Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He remained as a director of the Nets and Barclays Center until Mr. Prokhorov’s sale of both to Joe Tsai in 2018 and 2019.

From February 2002 to March 2004, Charlier was director of strategic development and M&A of Norilsk Nickel, a publicly held Russian company, where, among other transactions and developments, he led its acquisition of strategic stakes in Stillwater Mining Company and Gold Fields. He also actively participated in the acquisitions that led to the creation of Polyus Gold, Russia’s largest gold company.

Charlier started his investment banking career in 1995 at JPMorgan in the M&A Group in New York.

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Source: https://www.iposcoop.com/the-ipo-buzz-lafayette-acquisition-lafau-of-paris-raises-100-million/