Lately, a variety of veteran dealmakers – such as Nelson Peltz – have pursued blank check IPOs. Basically, these are shell corporations that raise money to purchase companies.

Well, today there has been another filing: MAFS Acquisition. And, the operator is Ronald Perelman, who wants to raise a cool $500 million.

Perelman got his start on Wall Street in the late 1970s. Since then, he has bought companies such as AlliedBarton Security Services, Harland Clarke, Scantron, Panavision and, of course, Revlon.

As for MAFS, Perelman plans to take an active role, such as with identifying, negotiating and structuring deals. What's more, he will be focusing on targets that have proven track records, strong free cash flows, and top management teams.

The lead underwriter on the IPO is Citi (NYSE: C).

You can find the prospectus at the SEC website. Also, if you want to find other recent IPO information, visit DealProfiles.com.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

It's a banner day for the folks at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). With the surge in deal activity, the company had another great quarter. The stock is up 5.57% to $80.35.

But the company got some other good news: Its attorneys were able to get the Florida appeals court to overrule a $1.75 billion judgment.

This was from the 2005 case in which a former mega-client, Ronald Perelman, sued the investment bank for allegedly botching the sale of Coleman to Sunbeam.

Basically, Perelman said Morgan omitted some important information about the deteriorating Sunbeam. Had he known, he would not have done the deal.

Revlon Company, maker of cosmetics, lotions and other skin care products, ousted CEO Jack Stahl and replaced him with CFO David Kennedy, 59, who has been with Revlon in several different capacities since 2002. Although it is wrong to dump all of Revlon's misfortunes on its CEO, Revlon has had eight years of losses, four of which came under Mr. Stahl's management. Part of Revlon's problems may stem from the personal problems of financier and Revlon controller Ronald Perelman, who is fresh off a divorce from actress Ellen Barkin that cost him untold bad publicity and as much as $60 million.

His attention has also been taken away from Revlon due to his involvement in a $1.4 billion suit against Morgan Stanley, which Mr. Perelman successfully proved helped Sunbeam Appliance Company falsify its financial state when Mr. Perelman purchased the company as part of his sale of Coleman (camping products).

Part of Revlon's problems may also stem from the fact that Mr. Perelman's investment strategy, as evidence by his portfolio in his holding company MacAndrews & Forbes, does not appear to have a focus. In addition to Revlon, bought using junk bonds and which now carries $1.7 billion in debt, Mr. Perelman's holdings have at one time also included Marvel Comics, Consolidated Cigar Company, Clarke American, First Nationwide Bank, and Meridian Sports.

Revlon is dwarfed by its main competitors, L'Oreal and Cover Girl. Revlon had intended to sell $75 million in stock in 2006, but this has been pushed into 2007. Growth through the rest of 2006 is expected to be moderate at best. Analysts are forecasting a loss of 14 cents per share on revenue of $1.45 billion for 2006. Revlon's stock peaked at $3.74 on 6 February 2006. Today the stock is trading at $1.34. At times during 2006, the stock has fallen to less than $1 per share.