The Spac market offered investors only disappointment last quarter, but it may seem like the good old days as regulators crack down on new blank-cheque stocks and enthusiasm for existing ones wanes.
The IPOX Spac Index fell 9.5 per cent, the worst performance since its July 2020 launch, and has lost more than 22 per cent over the past three quarters.
There are 610 special-purpose acquisition companies, or blank-cheque companies as they are known, are hunting for deals or racing the clock to find one, and some existing transactions are falling apart. Spac warrants, which hold the promise of future windfalls, are trading at a fraction of year-earlier levels.
Heavyweight sponsors are pulling plans for new offerings. And that was before the US Securities and Exchange Commission laid out plans for new rules on Wednesday, putting the industry on notice that the era of bringing private companies public with overly rosy forecasts is over.
“Irrespective of these new SEC proposals, the Spac market has really been retrenching,” said Jay Ritter, a University of Florida professor who tracks new issues. “We’ve had 54 Spac IPOs this quarter, and I’d be shocked if any of the quarters for the remainder of the year hit that level.”
It’s no wonder that Spacs that are still empty-handed are trading for less than the cash they have in trust. And returns for the Spacs that did complete a merger are horrific, with declines of 27 per cent in the first quarter and 65 per cent from the 2021 high.
“The bottom is not in yet, because you have too many Spacs chasing too few deals; that has got to resolve itself,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief executive of Tuttle Capital Management, which runs an index that tracks Spac returns.
If the SEC equalises the playing field between traditional initial public offerings and Spacs, “it could be a lot harder for the crummiest of the crummy deals to happen”, he said.
Deal makers pulled the plug on a record 44 planned Spac listings in the past three months that would have raised $11.66 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
A range of blank-cheque companies backed by household names like Wall Street veteran Ken Moelis and those with celebrities attached including a Spac that counted former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning as an adviser, were among those to throw in the towel.
The bottom is not in yet, because you have too many Spacs chasing too few deals; that has got to resolve itself
Matthew Tuttle,
chief executive officer, Tuttle Capital Management,
Aborted Spac mergers reached a record high of 15 in the first quarter and more than 30 for the past year, according to data compiled by Chicago-based Spac Research.
In part, that’s because the deals were negotiated when prospects for Spacs and the macro outlook were brighter. Spacs and their targets that have called it quits on their tie-ups range from Carlyle Group-backed Syniverse Technologies to investing app Acorns Grow.
Investors have also dumped warrants issued by all types of Spacs, with the prices down more than two-thirds from a year ago, data compiled by Boardroom Alpha shows.
The downward spiral signals that investors do not expect Spacs to find any target or that they won’t find a partner that boosts their shares enough to make the warrants valuable. Pre-deal warrants are trading at 33 cents on average compared with 67 cents at the start of the year, while warrants tied to companies that have lined up deals are around 75 cents versus $1.13 at the end of 2021.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
