2018
SPAC Market Year in Review
SPAC IPOs
46
Capital Raised
$10.7B
Avg Return
-12.0%
Bankruptcies
0
Market Context
2018 saw continued steady growth in the SPAC market with 46 IPOs. The emergence of serial sponsors like Michael Klein (Churchill Capital) and Alec Gores signaled a structural shift — SPACs were becoming a repeatable business model rather than one-off vehicles. Institutional investors began allocating to SPACs, drawn by the arbitrage opportunity of buying at NAV with downside protection. The broader market correction in Q4 2018 had little impact on SPAC issuance.
Key Events
•46 SPAC IPOs raise $10.7B — modest growth
•Serial sponsors emerge as a category
•Churchill Capital and Gores establish SPAC franchises
•First signs of institutional money flowing into SPACs
•SEC begins paying more attention to SPAC disclosures
Notable IPOs
↗ Churchill Capital Corp I
↗ Gores Holdings II
↗ Replay Acquisition
Notable Failures
↘ Early SPAC liquidations increasing
↘ Several 2016-2017 vintage SPACs fail to find targets