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Genomics firms taking advantage of SPACs trend to go public faster Christie Rizk, Genomeweb
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Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), once considered the province of scam artists and shady dealers, are the latest trend to hit the public markets and the scientific world as companies seek to go public more quickly and avoid some of the disadvantages of a traditional initial public offering of stock.
The trend has been pronounced in the life sciences genomic tools and diagnostics industries, where initial public offerings aren t as plentiful as some other markets, like biopharma. In February alone, four firms in the tools and molecular diagnostics industries announced that they ve decided to go public using the SPAC mechanism.
MedCity News
More healthcare startups go public through SPACs but will they succeed?
More healthcare startups are choosing to go public through mergers with special-purpose acquisition companies publicly-traded shell companies created with the purpose of taking a private company public. But as the number of SPACs searching for targets increases, will the SPAC bubble burst?
Shares1
From the beginning, Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum had imagined he would take his startup public through a traditional IPO. But last month, the direct-to-consumer health startup ended up taking a different route.
The startup merged with a special-purpose acquisition company formed by Oaktree Capital Management, effectively a shell company that goes public with the purpose of finding and acquiring a target company. The deal netted Hims & Hers a $1.6 billion valuation and $330 million in cash.