“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)?
News and Rumors PR: Bannix (NASDAQ:BNIX) has provided more information on the combination with VisionWave that it announced yesterday, specifying that the imaging technology that VisionWave will acquire from GBT Technologies will primarily seek out applications in military combat scenarios and geological surveys. PR: Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV), which combined with Virgin Group II in June...
At the SPAC of Dawn Fed Chair Jerome Powell has given new hints that the administration would be showing greater levels of comfort with inflation if a cut could help improve unemployment numbers. Those numbers could get an update today at 8:30 am ET to bring new jobless claims as well as final prices for...
News and Rumors CNBC: Former WeWork (OTC Pink:WEWKQ) founder Adam Neumann has offered to buy back control of the company for $500 million but has yet to secure the necessary financing. WeWork went public with BowX in October 2021. PR: Satellite telecom firm Spire Global (NYSE:SPIR) has signed an agreement to build and launch two...
Bannix (NASDAQ:BNIX) has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with VisionWave Technologies for $30 million. The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq once the deal is completed with an initial outside date of September 14. Transaction Overview Bannix has about $17 million in its trust after seeing 77.4% of its shares...
At the SPAC of Dawn Much of the attention yesterday was on tracking the swings of the newly-completed Trump Media (NASDAQ:DJT) deal with the FT going as far to suggest it may “make SPACs great again.” Not all of the day’s data points were on the positive side of the ledger, however. IB Acquisition Corp....