(Reuters) - Two blank-check companies, backed by billionaire Paul Singer’s hedge fund Elliott International Ltd, have filed for initial public offerings of up to $1.5 billion, their regulatory filings showed on Friday. Elliott Opportunity I Corp said it aimed to raise up to $1 billion, while Elliott Opportunity II Corp said it was looking to raise up to $500 million. Singer’s Elliott International Ltd invests in various types of securities and has also engaged in activist-style bets on SoftBank Group Corp, Marathon Petroleum Corp and Twitter Inc in the past. Blank-check companies, also called special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), go public typically at $10 a share and use proceeds to buy a private firm. The deal takes the private firm public. SPACs raised a record $82 billion through initial public offerings last year, according to data from Dealogic. Credit Suisse, Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank are the underwriters for both the IPOs.