Lindblad Expeditions has gone public with Capitol Acquisition Corp. II, officially taking its financial transactions to the NASDAQ exchange.
To become a public company, Lindblad merged with Capitol, and as a result, has been renamed Lindblad Expeditions Holdings Inc.
“We are excited to have closed our merger with Lindblad, and appreciate the support of our investors,” Capitol’s chairman and ceo Mark Ein said.
“With its well-established brand, long-term National Geographic partnership, deep management experience and strong track record of growth in this very attractive sector, Lindblad is exactly the kind of compelling long-term investment opportunity that we were looking for.”
In addition to approving the merger with Lindblad, Capitol’s stockholders elected five new directors to the board of the combined company: Mark D. Ein, who will serve as chairman, Sven-Olof Lindblad, who will serve as chief executive officer of the combined company, L. Dyson Dryden, chief financial officer of Capitol, John M. Fahey, chairman of the National Geographic Society, and Paul J. Brown, chief executive officer of Arby’s Restaurant Group.
“Completing the merger with Capitol and entering the public markets represents an important and exciting milestone for us,” Sven-Olof Lindblad added, saying the funds raised by going public will help expand its products on offer and purchase new ships.
“With this capital and a strong balance sheet, we are confident in the long-term growth prospects for our business.”
