2023
SPAC Market Year in Review
SPAC IPOs
31
Capital Raised
$3.8B
Avg Return
-55.0%
Bankruptcies
15
Market Context
2023 was a year of mass extinction for SPACs. WeWork's bankruptcy — at a company once valued at $9.4 billion post-SPAC — was the marquee disaster, but it was just one of 15+ SPAC-related bankruptcies. The pipeline of doomed 2020-2021 vintage SPACs continued to implode as cash-burning companies ran out of runway. Hundreds of SPACs that never found targets liquidated, returning cash to investors but leaving sponsors' promote shares worthless. The SPAC market was effectively dead as a viable capital-raising mechanism.
Key Events
•SPAC IPOs hit decade low with just 31 deals
•WeWork files for bankruptcy — largest SPAC bankruptcy ever
•Lordstown Motors files Chapter 11
•Bird Global, the scooter company, goes bankrupt
•IronNet Cybersecurity shuts down and delists
•Hundreds of SPACs liquidate without completing mergers
•SEC SPAC rules take effect, adding disclosure requirements
•Cumulative SPAC investor losses exceed $100 billion
Notable IPOs
↗ Virtually no notable new SPAC mergers
Notable Failures
↘ WeWork bankruptcy ($9.4B peak)
↘ Lordstown Motors bankruptcy
↘ Hyliion delisting
↘ Bird Global bankruptcy
↘ IronNet bankruptcy