NFL CIO Michelle McKenna Joins Health-Care Focused SPAC
Michelle McKenna, the National Football League’s chief information officer, is among the directors of a new special purpose acquisition company seeking a target in the health-care sector, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today.
The SPAC, Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition Corp., filed for a $150 million initial public offering. McKenna is one of the five directors of the blank-check firm, responsible for overseeing management of the business.
Isleworth seeks to acquire a company in the U.S. health-care, biopharmaceutical or medical-device businesses, citing the shift of the industry toward smaller, independent firms performing much of the research and development long dominated by large pharmaceutical companies.
The SPAC is led by Allen Weiss, a Walt Disney executive for 39 years, holding responsibility for the company’s theme parks. For much of the past decade, Weiss has been at Apollo Capital, involved in its acquisition of kids pizza party chain Chuck E. Cheese, luxury hotelier Great Wolf Resorts, and ClubCorp, an owner of golf courses and affinity clubs.
McKenna is one of four non-company executives on the board of directors of the SPAC. Since 2012, she has been responsible for the NFL’s technology strategy and management of all game-day tech. Most recently, McKenna has been the lead of the league’s COVID-19 technology response, including contact tracing testing and reporting and the NFL’s virtual draft held last April. Like Weiss, she also has theme park experience, having overseen the launch of the Harry Potter area of Universal Orlando, as well as logging time at Disney. She has also been a technology executive at Constellation Energy among other companies. McKenna didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
The five other executive and director nominees at Isleworth have backgrounds in pharmaceuticals, robotics, life sciences and private equity. The company seeks to sell units of one share and one-half off a warrant for $10.
More from Sportico.com
