SPACs

Filmmaker’s SPAC deal stages Oscar-worthy horror

4 Oct 2024

Angel Studios is going public at a $1.6 bln valuation with scary self-dealing and bitcoin featured. It also lost its biggest show, owes damages to Disney and courted controversy with child-trafficking movie “Sound of Freedom.” Even seasoned blank-check pros will be spooked.

Blackstone $16 bln AI deal borrows from SPAC boom

5 Sep 2024

A group led by Steve Schwarzman’s firm is paying a large sum to buy data centre operator AirTrunk from Macquarie. By tinkering with EBITDA, the buyer can present a low valuation multiple for a purchase in a hot sector. It's unnecessarily reminiscent of the blank-cheque froth.

Buyout shops would cash in redesigned blank checks

27 Aug 2024

Shell-company activity has slowed, but not halted. Deals involving SPACs old and new ensure Wall Street steady fees. A wider resurgence, however, may depend on structural changes. With $3 trln of aging assets in need of exits, private equity could benefit by leading a charge.

SPAC shell games will keep hiding the ball

5 Oct 2023

Firms going public via blank-check companies in 2021 expected nearly $100 bln of revenue this year. They’re looking about $40 bln short. Some like Cazoo are failing; others misled investors. Yet rules to prevent another mania sit in limbo and incentives endure to spur a comeback.

Capital Calls: Food prices, Brookfield, SPAC spin

3 Oct 2023

Concise views on global finance: The cost of ingredients for the average UK meal fell 0.1% in September; the Canadian giant’s $1 bln renewables deal reflects how European green assets are getting more appealing; Singapore’s SPAC puts a new spin on blank-cheque targets.

Capital Calls: Disney, Cazoo

20 Sep 2023

Concise views on global finance: Boss Bob Iger’s $60 bln splash on theme parks and cruises invites further scrutiny of the Magic Kingdom’s wild cash flow ride; the UK-based online car retailer, valued at $7 bln in a SPAC deal two years ago, is handing the keys to bondholders.

Capital Calls: FC Barcelona’s $1 bln SPAC deal

11 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: The Spanish soccer club is merging its media arm with a blank-check firm. Pinning its value on the franchise’s social-media followers is worthy of a red card.

Capital Calls: Carlyle, UK SPAC deal, Beauty marks

2 Aug 2023

Concise views on global finance: The buyout shop’s fee challenge comes into sharper relief for boss Harvey Schwartz; banker Michael Klein aims to use his latest shell company to buy a British investment firm for $1.6 bln; and $7 bln cosmetics maker e.l.f. is looking glamorous.

VinFast’s $27 bln SPAC deal belongs in scrapyard

17 Jul 2023

Most of the acquiring blank-cheque company’s investors opted for their money back rather than own the Vietnamese EV maker. The buyer could try to trim the heady valuation. But with the Tesla wannabe’s low US sales and poor reviews, ditching the deal is better than patching it up.

Sam Altman’s nuclear SPAC emits dangerous glow

12 Jul 2023

The ultra-busy OpenAI boss is using a blank-check company he runs to buy the $850 mln power producer he chairs. Conflicts of interest and the Oklo deal’s rosy assumptions are troubling. So too is the potential lack of capital in an industry notorious for delays and cost overruns.

Capital Calls: London crypto move, Stellantis SPAC

12 Jun 2023

Concise views on global finance: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomes Andreessen Horowitz’s UK office just as cryptocurrencies face a regulatory crackdown in the US; the European carmaker’s move to back a London blank-check vehicle is less hairy than it sounds.

SPAC addict finds a healthier formula in London

18 May 2023

Serial dealmaker Martin Franklin was into blank-check vehicles before it was cool. His new $550 mln buyout-inspired group dispenses with the egregious free shares insiders get in special purpose acquisition companies. The downside is that investors can’t stop Franklin if he errs.

Vietnam’s Tesla debuts with wrong kind of power

15 May 2023

VinFast is going public at a sales multiple seven times its rival. Merging at a $27 bln valuation with casino mogul Lawrence Ho’s SPAC secures it a listing in the US where the electric-vehicle maker is expanding. But it needs funding and an inflated 2021-style deal doesn’t help.

Richard Branson advances the science of SPAC holes

4 Apr 2023

Virgin Orbit, one of more than a dozen space-related outfits to go public since 2019, mostly by way of shell companies, has declared bankruptcy. On average, these stocks have lost 75% of their market value. Rapid incineration of capital means plenty of others will flame out too.

Lotus SPAC calls for scrutiny under the bonnet

3 Feb 2023

The merger with a blank-cheque company backed by LVMH values the marque at $5.4 bln. That’s cheaper than rivals it’ll race against. But plans to electrify a brand known for speedy gas guzzlers are ambitious, and outsourcing manufacturing to China’s Geely could be costly.

SPACs and crypto are just the tip of the iceberg

6 Dec 2022

Low rates pushed investors into risky pools of money – blank, digital, illiquid or otherwise. A defunct deal involving stablecoin issuer Circle shows that the go-go days are over. But other, much bigger, problems may be lurking in the murkier worlds of buyouts and private credit.

Satellite mogul SPAC talks are poker game for one

13 Oct 2022

Charlie Ergen set up Dish and is now in talks to sell Boost Mobile to the blank-check firm he also backs, putting him across the negotiating table from himself. There are ways for Dish to get an arm’s-length partnership with Boost but adding SPACs brings unnecessary conflicts.

Cohn SPAC investors choose cash over connections

26 Sep 2022

Goldman Sachs alum Gary Cohn’s blank-check firm ended a $9 bln merger with lottery operator Allwyn after 91% of his shareholders asked for their cash back. Cohn had touted the value of his deal nous and contacts. The case for paying up for those qualities has got less persuasive.

Capital Calls: Stratospheric SPACs

16 Sep 2022

Concise views on global finance: A slew of space firms have gone public in deals with blank check firms, only quickly to fall back to Earth. Intuitive Machines has a better shot at staying aloft, thanks to government contracts.

Capital Calls: SPACs’ long shadows

12 Sep 2022

Concise views on global finance: While electric-vehicle startup Nikola is moving beyond its founder, both it and its SPAC-partner peers are mired in supply chain challenges, slipping deadlines and tumbling share price performance.