Boxed.com lands new credit financing

Online bulk-products retailer Boxed.com has secured new financing amid a pending effort to become a public company.

Partner Seven Oaks Acquisition Corp. said New York-based Boxed has entered into a $45 million secured credit facility provided by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. The credit facility is scheduled to mature on Aug. 4, 2025.

“This new secured credit facility provides flexibility to drive customer acquisition, expand our product assortment, enhance our loyalty programs and continue to help the world stock up through our breakthrough technology,” Boxed co-founder and CEO Chieh Huang said in a statement. “We are extremely excited to be working with funds and accounts managed by a party of BlackRock’s caliber.”

Plans call for Boxed to enter the public market by merging with New York-based Seven Oaks, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). SPACs are publicly listed shell corporations formed to raise funds via initial public offerings to acquire private companies, making them public.

Boxed and Seven Oaks unveiled the merger agreement, with a pro forma combined equity value of about $900 million, in June. The merged company is expected to receive $334 million in net cash proceeds from Seven Oaks’ cash in trust of $259 million and $120 million in private placement financing.

Related:Online retailer Boxed to go public

A pure-play online retailer, Boxed provides warehouse club-style shopping — including groceries, pantry items, household staples, health and beauty aids, office supplies, and a variety of organic and green products — through its website and mobile app. Consumers and businesses can buy club-sized packages with free two-day delivery in the continental U.S. on purchases of over $49, without the membership fees of traditional warehouse clubs. The company also offers Boxed Express, an on-demand delivery service for perishables.

The SPAC transaction is slated to close in the fourth quarter, pending shareholder approval from both companies, regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. The merged company — to be led by Huang as CEO and Seven Oaks Chairman and CEO Gary Matthews as chairman — will be called Boxed Inc., and its common stock and warrants are expected to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbols BOXD and BOXD WS, respectively.

Also with the transaction, Boxed said it plans to offer its proprietary, end-to-end e-commerce technology to other businesses as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) to drive third-party marketplace expansion.