Among the major talent agencies, UTA is known for trumpeting publicly even the most minor signings or agent promotions. Nothing wrong with that; they play the perception game, and they usually play it well. So I was a bit surprised that UTA has kept quiet about its recent filing for a $200 million SPAC UTA Acquisition Corp., the new blank-check company based in the Caymans, is targeting businesses in “the gaming, digital media, creator economy, entertainment and technology industries,” per a Nov. 10 filing that was shared with me (not by someone at UTA). The agency declined to comment on it. 

Sure, everyone and their grandmother has a SPAC these days, but UTA’s play has lined up some well-known names in the games world: Reggie Fils-Aimé, former president and C.O.O. of Nintendo of America, is chairman; Jamie Sharp, a former business development executive at Google with tons of games experience, is co-C.E.O. alongside Clinton Foy, UTA’s investment leader (the agency’s head of video games, Ophir Lupu, is president; and chief accounting officer Chris Jefferis is C.F.O.). The board includes former CBS and X-Box leader Nancy Tellem, as well as Reddit co-founder and investor Alexis Ohanian. Connaught, the merchant bank, is sponsoring this effort as well.