Will SPACs survive the excesses of 2021 as a useful fund-raising tool, or just another chapter in the history of regulatory arbitrage? London’s surprisingly robust market helps provide an answer.
Most investors and companies have turned their backs on what used to be Wall Street’s hottest trend: special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. In one recent example, space-logistics company D-Orbit scrapped a deal. Vehicles’ shareholders are in many cases exercising their right to get their money back. The U.S. rout has been mirrored in the smaller European market, where 60% fewer SPACs listed between January and August relative to a year earlier, Dealogic data shows.
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