(Reuters) - Investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners is looking at an initial public offering by merging with a blank-check firm, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The boutique investment bank, founded by Joe Perella and Peter Weinberg in 2006, is expected to be valued at more than $1 billion, the source said. The source, however, did not disclose the name of the special-purpose acquisition company, a shell company that uses IPO proceeds to buy another company in a merger that will take the acquired company public. Perella Weinberg declined to comment. Bloomberg News, which first reported the news, said here senior members of the firm have been informed of the potential deal, citing people familiar with the matter. Perella Weinberg has been part of some of the biggest deals in the United States in the past few years, including the $3.2-billion buyout of SodaStream by PepsiCo PEP.O and American International Group"s AIG.N $5.56 billion acquisition of reinsurer Validus Holdings.