(Reuters) Daniel Loeb’s activist hedge fund Third Point LLC is in talks with investment banks about launching a “blank check” company that would raise money in an initial public offering to pursue an acquisition, according to people familiar with the matter.The new investment vehicle, referred to on Wall Street as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), would be the first of its kind to be raised by an activist hedge fund such as Third Point, which acquires stakes in public companies to pressure them to pursue changes or seek board representation. A SPAC uses proceeds from its IPO, together with borrowed funds, to acquire companies that are usually privately held. Investors in the IPO do not know in advance which company a SPAC will buy, although many outline in advance the sectors they want to be active in. It is not clear what kind of companies Third Point’s SPAC would target.

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