SPAC IPOs vs Traditional IPOs

请点击此处阅读简体版本

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies ("SPACs") have taken Wall Street by storm this year. 2021 has seen an unprecedented number being used as an alternative route for companies to go public. In just the first quarter of 2021, a record US$96 billion was raised from 295 newly formed SPACs¹. As at 20 December 2021, approximately US$162 billion has been raised from 609newly formed SPACs with the average SPAC IPO size being US$266million.

The Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands ("BVI") have been popular jurisdictions of choice for the launch of a SPAC owing to the suitability of their respective company laws to SPACs; their flexibility; tax neutrality; market familiarity; and the ability to redomicile to another jurisdiction (such as Delaware) upon a business combination (if required); and straightforward statutory merger regimes which is commonly used as a means of effecting a business combination, i.e. the acquisition or merger with the