The SPAC Rush of 2021

2020 was called the year of the SPAC with 295 SPACs in total and 248 IPOs via SPAC. 2021, seems to be no different. According to SPAC Insider, 2021 has already seen 63 SPACs formed. 

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As a refresher, SPAC, or special purpose acquisition companies are shell companies that are created solely to raise enough money for an IPO, in order to acquire an existing company. Read our previous Daily Stack on why companies merge with SPACs here. 
Here’s a list of recent SPACs that have filed for IPO. 

• Softbank filed its first SPAC for $525MM and is rumored to be prepping at least two additional SPACs. 
• Global Synergy Acquisition, a tech services-focused SPAC filed for a $225MM IPO. 
• VectoIQ Acquisition II, a smart transportation-focused SPAC led by former GM executives closed a $345MM IPO on Monday. 

Notable SPACs

• Pershing Square Tontine Holdings was the largest ever SPAC when it went public, raising $4BN. Founded by Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management, it still has not identified a merger target.
• Churchill Capital Corp IV is a SPAC formed by former Citigroup banker and Wall Street veteran Michael Klein. It’s rumored to be in talks to merge with electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors. 
• Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II is a SPAC that announced a merger with UK company Paysafe.
• Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp are a number of SPACs tied to venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya. It has led a number of successful mergers starting off with Virgin Galactic and most recently this month with Clover Health and SoFi.