Category: SPACs

Did the Inflation Reduction Act Create a SPAC Tax?

On August 16, 2022, House Resolution 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), was signed into law. An August 11 Cooley client alert explains some of the tax provisions contained in the IRA, including the 1% excise tax on certain stock buybacks, which may impact special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) at key points in […]

Is the SEC process for SPAC registration statements Kafkaesque?

“Statement Regarding SPAC Matter,” is the latest from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce.  Seems completely anodyne, doesn’t it? But, as they say, looks can be deceiving. Instead, it’s a withering criticism of the SEC’s failure to declare a SPAC registration statement effective in time to allow a de-SPAC merger to go forward, […]

New SEC proposal takes on SPACs

Yesterday, the SEC voted, three to one, to propose new rules and amendments regarding SPACs, shell companies, the use of projections in SEC filings and a rule addressing the status of SPACs under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The proposal arrives in the context of calls from various corners, […]

SPAC Trend Gives Rise to Securities Enforcement and Litigation Risks

What is a SPAC Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are on the rise. A SPAC is a publicly traded shell company with no underlying operating business that seeks to merge with a target operating company. According to Nasdaq, in 2015, SPACs made up approximately 12% of the IPO market, but by […]

10 Key Considerations for Going Public with a SPAC

It is a reasonable extrapolation – and we are nothing at Cooley if not wildly reasonable – that more operating companies are considering going public through a merger with a SPAC (commonly referred to as a backdoor IPO) since the beginning of time. There have been some great examples of […]