In recent years, the popularity of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) has skyrocketed. These publicly traded companies, formed with the sole purpose of raising capital to acquire one or more unspecified businesses, provide a novel capital-raising alternative to initial public offerings (IPOs).
While SPAC transactions offer a pathway for a company’s journey into the public markets, successful SPAC transactions require careful planning and execution, calling for a legal team that can navigate the complexities of this trending investment vehicle. At Manatt, we use our deep knowledge and transactional experience in both IPOs and mergers and acquisitions to guide companies and investors through the complete SPAC process.
What We Do
We are extensively involved in both the IPO process and the M&A process with regard to SPACs. Manatt uses a strategic interdisciplinary approach, combining financing, public and private equity and debt offerings, IPOs, mergers, buy-side and sell-side acquisitions, and other relevant understanding to shepherd our clients through the challenging interplay among bank regulatory approval, equity offering and M&A transactions. Lawyers from our capital markets, M&A, tax, technology, entertainment and media, intellectual property, and other practice areas work seamlessly with our clients to carefully plan and execute each step in the SPAC’s life cycle, providing unparalleled counsel and representation with their particular needs in mind.
We then employ our insight gained from representing companies on the sell-side of de-SPAC transactions to weigh risks and benefits, provide tax and structuring opinions, and ultimately achieve our clients’ goals and objectives of the transaction. Our decades of experience, coupled with our deep bench of top-ranked professionals, allow us to execute our clients’ strategy efficiently and successfully.
Our team has the right combination of experience and savvy to help with any SPAC transaction. Select types of our experience include:
- Representing SPAC sponsors and operating companies in IPOs
- Raising equity
- Advising SPACs in business combinations
- Providing tax structuring opinions
- Representing companies in reorganizations and mergers
- Navigating de-SPAC transactions