SPAC shell games will keep hiding the ball

Cazoo

05/10/2023 13:53

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Jeffrey Goldfarb
       NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Firms going
public via blank-check companies in 2021 expected nearly $100
bln of revenue this year. They’re looking about $40 bln short.
Some like Cazoo are failing; others misled investors. Yet rules
to prevent another mania sit in limbo and incentives endure to
spur a comeback.
    Full view will be published shortly.
    Follow @jgfarb on X
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in March 2022
proposed new rules to govern transactions involving
special-purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, which are used
to take private firms onto public markets as an alternative to a
traditional initial public offering. The comment period closed
on June 13, 2022.
    The SEC typically takes between 12 and 24 months from the
time a rule is first proposed until it is enacted so that staff
members can “consider possible adjustments to the proposals and
whether it’s appropriate to move forward to a final adoption,”
Chair Gary Gensler told the House Committee on Financial
Services on Sept. 27.

 (Editing by Lauren Silva Laughlin and Sharon Lam)
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