SPACs Close Down Again on a Sleepy Friday
SPACs closed down on the day again, with the average pre-deal SPAC trading at $9.80. No new deals today, with just 4 announced on the week.
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It s definitely been a sad May for SPACS with little good news to get investors excited. That being said, we continue to reiterate our view that the slowdown is positive for the longterm health of the broader SPAC market.
Little activity today with no new mergers getting announced, and just one new IPO traded with
Graf Acquisition Corp. closing down 0.7%. SPACs slid lower, once again, and the average pre-deal SPAC is now trading at $9.80 a steep discount to NAV.
Two Big SPAC Deals (SRNG, AURC) After Monday s Mess
Monday was a painful day for SPAC investors with 75% of pre-deal SPACs dropping farther and 3 deals actually dropping on the news. Will today s deals from SRNG and AURC turn the tide?
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At the close yesterday the average pre-deal SPAC was at $9.87 even further from NAV than investors have seen in a long time. Even worse, the three morning deals all closed lower:
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LIV Capital (LIVK) -0.1% to $9.99
Today s two deal announcements are mega deals and could potentially turn the tide, but given the market s overall state and SPACs still being clogged, it will take a lot.
SPACs Get Beat Up Again
SPACs are getting increasingly battered as IPOs are scarce, pre-deal SPACs fall consistently below NAV, and announced deals continue to weaken. EV SPACs got hammered as two deals closed.
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Another rough day for SPACs as
the average price for a pre-deal SPAC is now down to $9.88. SPACs with announced deals fared even worse with
almost 85% trading down today.
This morning did see one M&A announcement (see below), but that brings the week s total to just two announced and neither impressed.
It s clear the pace will remain slow until peak deal - i.e. when the 420+ SPACs that are searching for targets and feeling the pressure - forces the hand of the SPACs. Those SPACs are trading at an
Will Honest s IPO Take More Shine Off SPACs?
Muted SPAC M&A pops could spark a shift back to the traditional, longer IPO process for private companies. Hoffman and Pincus file for 4th SPAC.
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Are Traditional IPOs Back in Favor?
The SPAC boom was partly fueled by the myriad of advantages that private companies were given by choosing SPAC as their path to public markets, to name a few:
- a faster/far less arduous offering process
- ability to sell investors on
future projections
Following
The Honest Company (HNST) highly successful day-1 IPO, it s fair to ask if more companies will follow their patient lead in the traditional IPO process. They were famously an early unicorn and then, infamously, lost their unicorn status in a down financing round. Yet the company ultimately recovered, and now are close to profitability and have a $2B valuation after closing yesterday up +44%.
What s Next for SPACs
With prices, mood, interest, IPO valuation, and deal valuations all coming down, SPAC investors are asking what comes next.
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SPACs joined Tuesday s tech selloff with the average price of a pre-deal SPAC hitting $9.90 that s 10 cents below NAV. It s ironic that in a SPAC market that is much more rational (and tradable) than during peak SPAC earlier this year investors have lost much of their enthusiasm.
Volume across the board has gone down for SPACs with an
average daily volume dropping from 580,000 in February dropping to 104,000 in April. In some ways this is good as the higher volumes were partly a sign of some irrational SPAC exuberance, but at these levels investors will be very worried about efficiently pricing as they get in / out of SPACs.