Looking Ahead to August and the Fall Calendar…

In keeping with the pattern we’ve been seeing in July – busy Mondays, slow mid-week, capped off with new filings late Friday afternoon – what are the odds we see some new SPAC registration statements filed post-close today?

Chances are better than average.  We are hearing from multiple sources that the deal calendar could get quite heavy come September and October with a number of deals that have yet to file, but are slated for the Fall. Plus, we’re nearing “August vacation season”, so it would be advantageous to get through the SEC comment period now, to launch a roadshow post-Labor Day.  I will be watching the filings closely tonight and maybe we’ll get a surprise Chinh Chu deal to discuss.

However, where are all the business combination announcements??  There are currently 13 SPACs, representing $2.5 billion gross proceeds in trust, that have six months or less to complete. Plus, there are another 10 SPACs with 12 months or less and they represent another $2.6 billion held in trust.  But six months or less is cutting it close.   In fact, of those 13 SPACs, nine of them have less than four months to complete!

Taking all that into consideration, August “should” be combo season, with an emphasis on “should”.  If not, it means we’re most likely looking at quite a few completion-extension shareholder votes this Fall.  The next two weeks will be very telling, so let’s see how it shakes out.

As a reminder, any new SPAC filings will show up on the Latest News Page under the S-1 column, so you can check back this afternoon to see if anything pops up.