BUBBA’S LI’L BIG $PLASH

Hush NYSE debut

AN environmentally focused “blank check” company had a remarkably quiet launch on Tuesday — considering the fact that it has tapped Bill Clinton to help it find an acquisition target.

TortoiseEcofin Acquisition Corp. III — whose name might suggest a slow, patient approach to ecological investments — went public on the New York Stock Exchange, security filings show, with little fanfare.

According to TortoiseEcofin III, the nation’s 42nd president has joined the board of the $300 million SPAC — or special-purpose acquisition company, which is essentially a shell company sitting on a pile of cash that can merge with a private firm to take it public.

“We intend to focus our search for a target business in the broad energy transition or sustainability arena targeting industries that require innovative solutions to decarbonize in order to meet critical emission reduction objectives,” reads a Web site for the blank-check company.

Clinton, who holds the title of independent director and owns 10 percent of the company, according to the filing, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

He is listed alongside seven other members of the company’s management team.

Tuesday’s low-key rollout flummoxed some financiers.

“I am left dumbfounded why — if you have such a highprofile personality associated with your project — why you wouldn’t be shouting it from the rooftop,” said David Tawil, co-founder and president of ProChain Capital.

Perhaps the scant press is because ex-politicians doing SPACs is now old news, said University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter. He pointed to former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan’s involvement in a $300 million blankcheck deal last year, which was widely covered.

Nevertheless, Clinton is likely to come in handy for TortoiseEcofin III as a profusion of SPACs compete for targets, according to Ritter.

“There might be prospective acquisition companies that are getting e-mails from 40 different SPACs saying we want to talk to you, and one of them might instead have a call from Bill Clinton,” said Ritter.

“A lot of CEOs, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans, would be happy to spend an hour talking with him.”

The company is being led by former Bank of America investment banker Vince Cubbage, who said in a statement: “We were aware of President Clinton’s commitment to clean energy and the environment and respect his work to fight climate change and expressed interest through his people in having him as a director.“