Bobcat Owner Hopes to Write a Blank Check

Photo by Rennett Stowe. Some rights reserved.

The twelfth blank check company this year to file for an IPO — there were only three in all of 2009 — is especially noteworthy for its roster of heavy hitters.  RLJ Acquisition, Inc., which filed its S-1 on Friday, brings together Mario Gabelli, Morris Goldfarb, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, and the company’s head and namesake, Robert L. Johnson.

Johnson is well-known for being the nation’s first African-American billionaire, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, and the current owner of NBA basketball franchise the Charlotte Bobcats.  The group hopes to raise $143.75 million with the offering, which it would use to purchase an already well-established company.