Acquicor Tech Enjoys Apple's Halo

And that's the punch line. Acquicor has no revenue, no profit (only a modest a loss of $6,273), and because it was founded last August, it's had no business operations whatsoever. Its sole purpose to date has been ensuring that the company goes public, with no business model in mind other than going public.

That business model isn't as unusual as you may think. It's called a "blank check" company, and it's essentially a poor man's buyout fund. Blank-check firms raise capital and buy other companies, hoping to make more money along the way. It's a simple-enough plan, but it's bedeviled even the greatest financiers.

(To see Senior Writer Matthew Goldstein's take on the blank-check market, click here and here. To Goldstein's story on former NBA star Tom McMillen's foray into these deals, click here.)

Investors get their money back if the blank-check firm fails to find enough companies to buy within 18 months. That limits the downside, but doesn't mitigate the fact that these companies also go against nearly every bit of investment wisdom. It's Peter Lynch turned on his head: Instead of investing in what you know, you invest in a black box.

In the 1980s, blank-check offerings flourished, until the Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on them, when many failed to adequately report their financial condition. Now, thanks to hedge funds -- many of which enjoy a bit of edge-play -- blank-check IPOs are back. Acquicor counted 43 of them since August 2003, holding an aggregate $2.5 billion in trust. Most of them are traded over the counter, although Acquicor found a home in the slightly more respectable American Stock Exchange.

With his blank-check IPO, Amelio achieved a beautiful piece of financial alchemy, spinning gold out of thin air. According to the prospectus, Amelio created the company, then lent it $275,000 of his own money -- all of it spent on preparing Acquicor for its IPO. He's been earning interest at 3.6% on that loan.