“I have never found any blank-check investment vehicle attractive. No matter what the reputation or what the sponsor might be. . . . They are the ultimate in terms of lack of transparency.”
— Arthur Levitt, former SEC Chairman
That’s a great quote…and it’s especially ironic given that Arthur Leavitt is currently Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Group, which is the Sponsor of Regalwood Global Energy. Oops.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen or heard negative quotes like that about SPACs. Mostly, they are from people who aren’t that well informed about the product. Or, as is the case with Arthur Leavitt, he’s referring to a time when Blank Check Companies actually were a terrible product. (To be fair, that quote from Arthur is very old.)
However, SPACs have since evolved. Bigger, better, more badass now.
So for fun, I found some old articles from back in the day that shows how the product (and the reporting) have changed over the years. Here’s hoping that one day in the near future, financial reporters will stop referencing SPACs from “the bad old days”. (Seriously, it’s a different product now. Please find a new angle.)
Note: It’s July 4th tomorrow and unless something crazy gets filed or there’s a major news announcement Thursday or Friday, we won’t be back until Monday.
Have a great Fourth of July, everyone!
SPAC Articles Through the Years
2005: Crave Huge Risk? This Investment May Be for You
2007: Wall Street’s New Status Symbol: The SPAC
2008: $300 Million to Burn, With a Catch
2016: More Wall Street banks, investors help write blank checks
2018: Why Are Top CEOs Flocking To SPACs (Blank Check Companies)?
Part of the fun of the SPAC market is seeing the constantly evolving terms and approaches of teams in both securing their IPOs and their later business combinations. But, there are nonetheless a few hard rules to set the state of play among sponsors and investors, including sacrosanct deadlines for dispersing of trust funds back...
At the SPAC of Dawn Car-sharing networks had their moment in the sun as hot items in the tech scene, with some hopes that the companies could grow to the same scale as vacation rental disrupters like AirBnB (NASDAQ:ABNB). But, signs are showing that this startup category may not be ready for the public markets....
Blue Water III (NASDAQ:BLUWU) has filed for a $200 million SPAC to follow up on the healthcare-focused sponsor’s 2021 pharmaceutical deal. This new SPAC is set to have 1/2 warrants in its units with no overfunding of its trust and a solid 24 months to complete a business combination. It is the third new S-1...
At the SPAC of Dawn While yesterday brought news of better-than expected housing starts, albeit with slightly lower building permits beginning, today’s market news should include an update on jobless claims, which could be a key harbinger of the Fed’s rate cut policy. Other leading economic indicators are set to come in later in the...
CCIS Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:CCACU) has filed for a $60 million SPAC that would bring a fresh new underwriter to the market in the smaller range of the spectrum. This is the first SPAC IPO filing by underwriter Benjamin Securities Inc. as left lead, although it served as co-manager for Plum IV‘s (NASDAQ:PLMKU) January 15 IPO...