After explosive growth in the US, the craze surrounding special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, is now heading to Asia. Analysts believe that Southeast Asia, where the tech startup scene has thrived on economic growth and a need to boost financial inclusion, could very well be the next hotspot for SPAC acquisitions.
SPACs are blank-check shell corporations set up by investors with the sole purpose buying and reverse merging with a private company. Their growth has so far been mostly centered around the US with US-based SPACs raising more than US$64 billion through initial public offerings (IPOs) so far this year, representing 37% of global deal volumes, Refinitiv data show.