Joseph Hernandez, chairman and CEO of Blue Water Acquisition Corp. IV, joins us fresh off the Bell Podium at the New York Stock Exchange. In this conversation, Hernandez shares insights into the company’s first NYSE listing and their focus on transformative merger targets, particularly in AI, advanced technology, and innovative energy sectors like small modular reactors. He highlights the critical role AI will play in the future and how energy innovation is central to supporting its growth. Hernandez also reflects on the evolution of the SPAC landscape since the 2021 boom, explaining why SPACs remain a powerful vehicle for taking private companies public and accelerating growth. With Blue Water Acquisition Corp. IV trading under the ticker symbol BWIV, Hernandez expresses excitement for the future and the opportunities ahead in AI and energy innovation.
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Joseph Hernandez joins us now fresh off of the one and only Bell Podium. He is chairman and CEO at Blue Water Acquisition Corp. IV. Thanks for being here, and congratulations. It's a big day for you once again. Thank you for having us. We appreciate it. I know when you talk about potential merger target, there's a lot of information you can't quite yet reveal to us. But at least the company has written in filings, maybe something in AI, data infrastructure, advanced technology sectors, overall, what makes for a good merger partner in your experience?
Yeah, well, listen, we're quite excited to be a first. This is our first listing in the New York Stock Exchange, so we're very excited about that. We've done a number of listings in NASDAQ, but we're excited to be here. They've been great partners to us and we're looking forward to it. But, you know, we are we truly believe in A.I. and the role it's going to play in the future of our country and of our of our world. So we're big believers in that technology. We believe it's like what electricity was a couple hundred years ago. and we're looking for good targets, we're looking for good companies that are going to be transformative in that space. We think energy is a big play. We're looking at energy sectors, small modular reactors, anything that is in the energy spectrum. AI is consuming a lot of energy, so we need to find innovative ways to address those challenges moving ahead. But we're excited, we think the future is beautiful, it's bright, and America's got a lead in this effort, so we're excited to be players in this game.
In what ways have you seen the broader SPAC landscape change? A lot of retail investors will remember a lot of hype in the space back in 2021. How has the conversation around SPACs evolved in your career?
Well, you know, we were part of that cycle as well. We had some successful IPOs there. We just did a recent IPO. We raised $253 million about nine months ago or so. So we think the market's back. There's going to be a number of really exciting these spackings that are about to happen. I think that's going to define the market moving forward. But this is a great vehicle. It's a great mechanism to bring a private company public that wants to accelerate through the process. And we've been really successful with it. We're excited about it. And we think it's an important mechanism to bring companies public.
All right, the ticker symbol is BWIV. Correct. At least for now, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. Joseph Hernandez, congratulations. Thank you so much for having us. And thanks a lot for joining us down here. We appreciate it.
Come down and see us on the show anytime.
Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate the exposure.