The Return of Blank-Check Companies

The Times Dealbook blog notes today that shares of the entity that announced plans to buy Jamba Juice, the Inc. 500 smoothie chain, have risen dramatically. The Dealbook also says that there has been a little boomlet of deals involving blank-check companies. These are corporate shells that raise money through an initial public offering of stock on the premise that they will then acquire an operating business.

Blank-check companies were once seen as fly-by-night, according to the Denver Post, but abuses that occurred 15 or 20 years ago have been cleaned up by state and federal restrictions, the paper reports.

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City. @mikehofman