With more than 20 years of financial experience, entrepreneur Darryl Nakamoto is now the CEO and director of Pono Capital Two Inc. – a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, based in Honolulu.
A SPAC is created solely to enact a merger, a spokesperson for the company wrote in an email to Pacific Business News. Its purpose is to raise funds and secure a company’s trading status on the U.S. stock exchange — an otherwise lengthy process.
On Sept. 17, Pono Capital Two completed a $1 billion merger with SBC Medical Group Holdings Inc. — the largest Japanese health company to ever be listed on a U.S. stock exchange, Nakamoto told PBN. According to a national announcement by Business Wire, with 164 franchisee cosmetic treatment centers located in Japan and more than 1,600 employees globally, SBC Medical began trading on the Nasdaq the next day.
“SBC Medical has gone public for the purpose of enhancing its international brand and to facilitate the expansion of its clinic operation support business in the United States and Southeast Asia to accelerate growth,” the announcement noted.
“We appreciate the effort and commitment of all the parties involved in this business combination. The listing of SBC Medical on Nasdaq through a business combination with Pono Capital Two is both a milestone for SBC Medical and a step toward international growth for the company,” Nakamoto said in the announcement. “Our belief has been that a promising Japan-based company, together with a U.S.-listed company, will help to unlock value for all our shareholders.”
This is Nakamoto’s third SPAC acquisition that resulted in the target company being listed on the stock exchange, the spokesperson noted. The first was with Hoverbike developer Aerwins in 2022 via Pono Capital One, and the second was the Horizon Aircraft in 2023 via Pono Capital Three.
Pono Capital Two has two employees, including Nakamoto, and three board members.
Nakamoto is also president and owner of Viv LLC, an accounting and finance solutions provider, and he currently serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii.
Describe your business. When and how was Pono Capital Two founded?
Pono Capital Two was founded over two years ago with the idea that there are companies in Japan that may be a good fit for the U.S. public market. We raised $115 million, and our goal was to identify, negotiate and facilitate their move to be a Nasdaq-listed company.
What were some of the lessons learned from the recent merger you facilitated with Japan’s SBC Medical? What does this achievement mean for Pono Capital Two and for Hawaii now and in the future?
We were able to orchestrate a $1 billion merger with Japan’s SBC Medical Group Holdings. SBC Medical provides management support to cosmetic medicine providers in Japan and the U.S. and is believed to be the largest Japanese health-related company to ever be listed on a U.S. stock exchange – and it was facilitated by a locally-based company with effectively all of its board members and executive team being from Hawaii. We believe that this is another step forward towards Hawaii being a hub for "east-meets-west" and changing the perception that Hawaii is only about tourism.
Hawaii's strategic location and historic ties to Asia create many potential opportunities for our business community. This is just one creative example of this and proof that it can be done. We have already seen the benefits for Hawaii through this deal as SBC Medical has already opened sizable accounts with two Hawaii-based banks and is exploring the expansion of its operations locally. This deal, which took more than two years to complete, is regarded as a major achievement by both national and international standards.
What are your current priorities and what are the roles of Pono Capital Two’s board members?
The remaining board member from the original Pono Capital Two listing is Mike Sayama. He will be integral in advising and overseeing SBC’s leadership as they work toward growing long-term shareholder value of the company.
Pono Capital Two
CEO and Director, Darryl Nakamoto
Address: Honolulu, HI
Email:darryl@ponocorp.com
