# Colombier Acquisition Corp. III **Colombier Acquisition Corp. III** (NYSE: CLBR) is [[Omeed Malik]]'s third blank-check company. It holds about **$300 million** in trust, its board includes [[Donald Trump Jr.]], [[Laura Ingraham]], [[Chamath Palihapitiya]] and [[Blake Masters]], and it has until **February 2028** to merge with a private company. As of October 6, 2026 it has not announced a target. Its prospectus lists the sectors it is shopping in, and they include several where the federal government is moving the money: defense tech, rare earths, prediction markets, energy and space. For the first two deals in the series, see [[Colombier SPACs]]. ## Key facts | Field | Detail | |---|---| | Listing | NYSE: shares CLBR, units CLBR U, warrants CLBR WS (separate trading from March 27, 2026) | | S-1 filed | October 17, 2025, for $260M | | IPO | Priced February 3, 2026: 26M units at $10, each unit one share plus one-eighth of a warrant ($11.50 strike). Roth was sole bookrunner, StoneX co-manager | | Closing | February 5, 2026, with the full over-allotment: **29.9M units, $299M in trust** ($10.00 a unit) | | Trust now | **$302.2M** at June 30, 2026 ($10.11 a share), from interest | | Deadline | February 5, 2028, or May 5, 2028 if a letter of intent or merger agreement is signed by then | | Target size | Enterprise value $250M to $25B | | Sponsor | Colombier Sponsor III LLC, whose managing member is Knights Court LLC, managed by Malik | | Largest outside holder | Sculptor Capital, 1.5M units (5.74%), per a February 2026 13G | ## People **Officers:** Malik (chairman and CEO), Paul Abrahimzadeh (president), Joe Voboril (CFO, also of [[Farvahar Partners]]), Andrew Nasser (chief investment officer) and Jordan Cohen (COO). The prospectus says the management team "comprises of principals from 1789 Capital." **Board**, appointed effective February 4, 2026 (8-K): | Director | Committees | |---|---| | [[Donald Trump Jr.]] | None | | [[Chris Buskirk]] | None | | [[Chamath Palihapitiya]] | None | | [[Blake Masters]] | Audit; Compensation; Nominating (chair) | | [[Laura Ingraham]] | Audit; Compensation (chair); Nominating | | Candice Willoughby | Audit (chair); Compensation; Nominating | The Independent reported in October 2025, when the S-1 named her, that Ingraham was joining the board while still hosting on Fox News; Fox did not comment. ## The sponsor's deal The SPAC structure pays the sponsor through founder shares bought for almost nothing: - **Founder shares.** The sponsor paid **$25,000** for **9,966,667 shares**, about $0.003 each, issued September 3, 2025. At the $10 trust value those shares are nominally worth about **$99.7 million**, before any merger has happened. - **Total stake.** With 150,000 private units bought for $1.5 million, the sponsor holds **10,116,667 shares, 25.28%** of the company (13D). - **Who owns the sponsor** (424B4): | Holder | Share | |---|---| | PB SPAC Holdings LLC, controlled by Malik | About 88% | | An unnamed "third-party accredited investor with a pre-existing business relationship" | About 5% | | Independent directors | 4% | | Roth, the underwriter | About 3% | - **Director grant.** On February 5, 2026 the directors received sponsor interests equal to **400,000 founder shares for $1,004** in total. The company booked their fair value at **$964,000**. The filings do not say how this was split among directors, or whether Trump Jr. received any. - **Fees.** The company pays **$10,000 a month** to OJJA II LLC, a sponsor affiliate, for office and administrative services. Roth was paid upfront in 299,000 founder shares instead of cash, and its deferred fee of up to **$3 million** drops to **$850,000** if redemptions empty three-quarters of the trust. ## What it says it is looking for The prospectus frames the vehicle in 1789 Capital's language: "Like 1789 Capital, the company is formed to fund the next chapter of American Exceptionalism and help Make America Grow Again." Its "Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Growth" thesis is described as "rooted in America-first cultural shifts after the 2024 U.S. election." **The sector list:** "software, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, robotics, defense tech, DeFi, prediction markets, fintech, domestic manufacturing, rare earth minerals, energy & power generation, space, and digital infrastructure." Read that list against [[1789 Capital]]'s holdings: - Rare earths is where [[Vulcan Elements]] got a $620 million Pentagon loan after 1789 invested. - Prediction markets are where [[Polymarket]] saw a federal investigation closed. - Defense tech is where [[Anduril]]'s federal contracts grew. Each of those is a sector where a federal decision changed a company's value after money tied to the president's son came in (see [[Defense Tech Conflicts of Interest]] and [[Critical Minerals]]). **Conflicts, in its own words.** The company is "not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors." The charter waives any claim to its officers' business opportunities. Officers may owe duties "to present a business combination opportunity" to other entities first. So in principle a 1789 portfolio company could be the target, and 1789 deals can come before Colombier's. ## The track record it advertises The prospectus cites the first two deals by their best numbers: - [[PublicSquare]]: volume-weighted average price $13.39, peak close **$29.80**. - [[GrabAGun]]: average $14.05, peak **$17.24**. By the time of the IPO, Axios reported PublicSquare trading under $1 and GrabAGun near $3. Axios also reported a $250 million target that was "upsized." No public filing shows that: the first S-1 was already $260 million, and the only increase was the standard over-allotment to $299 million. ## The market's view CLBR traded around **$10.20** in late September 2026, slightly above its trust value of about $10.11 a share. That is normal for a SPAC that has not chosen a target: shareholders can redeem for their trust value, so the stock behaves like cash plus a small premium for the deal. The warrants traded around $0.71. Interest has paid the bills so far: **$4.2 million** in the first half of 2026. **Gaps.** The prospectus risk factors and director biographies have not yet been read for this page. Whether the filing discloses any risk tied to Trump Jr.'s position or to the administration is unverified, as is the identity of the 5% outside investor. ## Development Log - **2025-09-03:** Founder shares issued to the sponsor for $25,000. - **2025-10-17:** S-1 filed for $260 million. Reuters frames it as "backed by Trump Jr., Omeed Malik." - **2025-10-20:** The Independent reports Laura Ingraham will join the board. - **2026-02-03:** IPO priced at $260 million. - **2026-02-04:** Board appointed. - **2026-02-05:** Closes at $299 million with the over-allotment. The sponsor files its 13D and Malik files a Form 4. - **2026-02-10:** Sculptor Capital discloses 5.74%. - **2026-03-27:** Shares and warrants begin trading separately. - **2026-05-13:** First 10-Q. - **2026-08-13:** Second 10-Q: $302.2 million in trust, "had not entered into a definitive agreement." - **2026-10-06:** No target announced. Watch for: a letter of intent or definitive agreement (8-K), the target's exposure to federal contracts or regulation, any redemption or extension vote, and new 13D/13G holders. ## See Also - [[Colombier SPACs]] · [[Omeed Malik]] · [[Farvahar Partners]] · [[1789 Capital]] - [[Donald Trump Jr.]] · [[Laura Ingraham]] · [[Chamath Palihapitiya]] · [[Blake Masters]] · [[Chris Buskirk]] - [[SPACs]] · [[Defense Tech Conflicts of Interest]] · [[Trump Family Corruption Ecosystem]]