Ex-Trump adviser Cohn raises more than planned in blank-check IPO

By Joshua Franklin

BOSTON (Reuters) - Gary Cohn, the former economic adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, raised $720 million on Tuesday in an initial public offering (IPO) for a new blank-check acquisition company, 20% more than originally planned, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Shares in Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp , a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), sold for $10 apiece, the standard typical price in SPAC IPOs.

A representative for Cohn Robbins Holdings declined to comment.

Cohn, who was director of the White House's National Economic Council in 2017 and 2018, said last month that he had teamed up with investor Clifton S. Robbins to raise $600 million in an IPO, the latest high-profile Wall Street veterans to join the frenzy for SPACs.

Once confined to the backwaters of capital markers, SPACs emerged this year as a major driver of IPOs, led by splashy deals for the likes of space tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc and fantasy sports and gambling company DraftKings Inc.

Cohn Robbins Holdings units are due to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the "CRHC.U" symbol.

Credit Suisse is the sole book-running manager on the Cohn Robbins Holdings IPO.

(Reporting by Joshua Franklin in Boston; Editing by Paul Simao)

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