Following on from Tuesday's newsletter, the article in the url below announces the public listing of Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC). If you are unfamiliar with BRCC, I wrote about it earlier this year (see Strategic CSR – Black Rifle Coffee):
"The article in the url below profiles Black Rifle Coffee – a roasting company in Salt Lake City that, I would argue, is just as good an example of strategic CSR in action as Patagonia. … While enacting a very different set of values to Patagonia and, as a result, appealing to a completely different part of the population, the point is that Black Rifle stands for something and that thing is highly valued by a specific market segment."
In the article featured in today's newsletter, the company is announcing its listing via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC):
"Black Rifle Coffee Co. is going public by combining with a special-purpose acquisition company in a merger that values the coffee seller focused on military veterans at about $1.7 billion, the companies said. Known for its pricier coffee and firearms-themed products such as its AK-47 Espresso Blend, Black Rifle is combining with the SPAC SilverBox Engaged Merger Corp. I. Black Rifle also sells branded apparel and produces digital content to promote its products to veterans and first responders."
While SPACs have a spotty track record and are often associated with dubious business propositions, what is interesting about this announcement is that the merger is positioning BRCC as a social enterprise:
"Founded by former Green Beret Evan Hafer in 2014, Black Rifle has capitalized on consumers' desire to shop at brands that support social causes. Mr. Hafer vowed in 2017 to hire 10,000 veterans after Starbucks Corp. promised to hire 10,000 refugees following then President Donald Trump's executive order barring more refugees from entering the country."
More specifically, the merger is enabling the company to validate this claim by altering its legal status:
"As part of the deal, Black Rifle plans to reorganize as a public-benefit corporation, meaning it will have fiduciary duties both to shareholders and social good. Many startups have become PBCs, with investors increasingly giving priority to companies' missions. 'We want to do well for ourselves and do good for our community,' Joe Reece, the SPAC's executive chairman, said."
Relating back to the comparison I made back in March with Patagonia, and given that Patagonia is also a public benefit corporation (since 2012), I am struck by how different the values and guiding missions of these two companies are, but how they are equally appealing to their specific set of key stakeholders:
"Today, about half of Black Rifle's roughly 600 employees are military veterans, a total that Mr. Hafer said in an interview he expects to grow after the SPAC deal."
Take care
David
David Chandler
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Black Rifle Coffee, SPAC to Merge
By Amrith Ramkumar
November 3, 2021
The Wall Street Journal
Late Edition – Final
B3
