Baseball card maker Topps to go public in $1.3 billion deal (New York Post)

Baseball cards, Bazooka bubble gum and SPACs go together now.

Topps, the iconic sports trading card manufacturer, said Tuesday it plans to take itself public in a deal that values its business at $1.3 billion with the help of a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, called Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp.

SPACs, also known as “blank check” companies, are essentially pools of investor money that enable private companies to sidestep the traditional IPO process by merging with them.

The 80-year-old company will be traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TOPP.

In the candy business, Topps owns the Ring Pop, Push Pop and Baby Bottle Pop brands. But in recent years, Topps also has expanded into mobile apps allowing fans to trade and play cards online and it recently expanded into non-fungible tokens, the company said.

Demand for sports memorabilia has soared during the pandemic setting the stage for the biggest card deal ever…