(Viability of SPACs under Spanish law) - Abstract Nº:1 / 2022

(Viability of SPACs under Spanish law)

Abstract:

SPACs are listed shell companies that are created and raise capital through an initial public offering with the sole purpose of merging with a non-listed company so that, as a result of the transaction, the target company becomes listed in the stock exchange. This way, SPACs work as an alternative to the traditional listing methods (IPO and direct listing). Although in the last months there has been a slowdown in the creation of SPACs, during years 2020 and 2021 there was a real explosion of SPAC offerings, mainly in USA, giving rise to a phenomenon called as “SPAC-mania”. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to study the origins and the functioning of SPACs and to analyze the way this kind of companies could operate under the Spanish corporate and securities market laws.

Keywords: SPAC, IPO, listing, merger.