The Topps Company will trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol TOPP after a merger with the SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp. II, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Topps was taken private after it was acquired for $385 million by former Disney Chairman William Eisner’s Tornante Company and private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners in 2007 (see "Topps Deal Closes").  The new deal values the post-acquisition company at 1.16 billion, according to the report.

Topps’ sales in 2020 were $567 million, up 23% from the previous year.  Key licenses include Major League Baseball, Star Wars, and the National Hockey League.  Topps has had a digital card business since 2012, and has recently expanded into nonfungible tokens (NFTs), the hottest new category in collectibles (see "Funko Inc. Dives in the NFT Market with Tokenhead").

Tornante Company will roll its entire stake into the new company, and Eisner will remain Chairman.  Madison Dearborn will sell a majority of its stake.  Mudrick is raising $250 million through a private offering to fund the Madison Dearborn share purchase and transaction expenses.