I believe the issue is not with SPACs that haven't merged with another company (as the money would be safe in escrow as you point out), but with SPACs which have already done the merger and taken another company public. They mention Helbiz (a scooter company) that was taken public last year, but may not survive another 12 months.
Oh. Well at that point they're no longer a SPAC, right? This same scenario of almost being broke can apply to startups and recently IPO'd companies too. Really any small company in practice.
Yes, but the goal with SPACs was to allow these kind of companies to go public without following the due diligence process of a regular IPO.
Technically yes, but oftentimes companies that were taken public via a de-SPAC merger are still referred to as SPACs in the media.
These are not the vehicles going under but the company itself. They've "de-SPAC'd" so to speak.
I feel like the title is a bit inaccurate. Once the acquisition has been completed, the company is no longer a SPAC. The title implies existing SPACs (companies that have not yet completed an acquisition) are somehow going bust.
At least to me, the intent is clear. Companies that recently went public via SPAC are at risk of failing due to the nature of SPACs and current market conditions.
ok. what do we call the companies still in search of an acquisition target?