A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a company with no commercial operations that is formed strictly to raise capital through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring another existing company. [1]
Designed to take companies public without going through the traditional IPO process. SPACs allow retail investors to invest in private equity type transactions, particularly leveraged buyouts.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), “A SPAC is created specifically to pool funds in order to finance a merger or acquisition opportunity within a set timeframe. The opportunity usually has yet to be identified.”[2]
Also known as “blank check companies”, SPACs have been around for decades. In recent years, they’ve become more popular, attracting big-name underwriters and investors and raising a record amount of IPO money.1
[1] (Investopedia, 2020)
[2] (Wikipedia, 2020)
