Big news in SPAC Land….Morgan Stanley has decided to jump into the SPAC underwriting pool with both feet by hiring Bennett Schachter away from Goldman Sachs. That’s quite a splash. Morgan Stanley has, until now, sort of tip-toed around SPACs having only been an underwriter on three deals since 2009 (Hunter Maritime, Leisure and Boxwood). You always got the sense that they were never fully committed to their SPAC program. Well that’s changed now.
Bennett Schachter had been Goldman Sach’s head SPAC banker, getting Goldman involved in a number of high profile transactions. Most recently, Goldman was the left lead underwriter on the $305.6 million Acamar Partners Acquisition Corp. IPO. By hiring Bennett away from Goldman, Morgan Stanley just signaled that they are very serious about committing to SPACs going forward.
SPACs just got a whole lot more competitive (As if they weren’t already).
Terms Tracker for the Week Ending March 28, 2025 Welcome to our weekly column where we discuss the findings from our IPO terms tracker based on the previous week’s pricings. No SPAC IPOs priced this week, which means March closes out with just two IPOs total, both of which priced last week. By comparison, January...
At the SPAC of Dawn The year’s first big IPO has arrived, and its wings have already been trimmed before it got out the gate. AI chip firm CoreWeave had been aiming to price at a range of $47 to $55 per share, which would have valued the company at $26.5 billion at the top...
At the SPAC of Dawn Another day, another wave of trade war news as US President Donald Trump has announced fresh 25% tariffs on all imported automobiles on April 3 in addition to the new customs duties expected to come into force on April 2. These moves cut across a wide swath of SPAC target...
Armada Acquisition Corp. II has filed for a $200 million SPAC to combine with a fintech, SaaS or AI company with nearly the same team top-to-bottom that just completed its first SPAC combination in that space. The filing is Cohen & Company’s seventh of the year as left-lead underwriter and Northland Capital Markets is stepping in...
HCM II (NASDAQ:HOND) has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with nuclear reactor developer Terrestrial Energy at a pro forma equity value of $1.3 billion. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Terrestrial is developing unique molten salt nuclear reactors designed to generate enhanced heat outputs for industrial client processes. The combined company is expected to trade on...