Michael Klein's SPAC to cease operations three years after going public

Churchill Capital V

02/10/2023 22:30

Oct 2 (Reuters) - Veteran dealmaker Michael Klein-led
blank-check company Churchill Capital Corp V  CCV.N  said on
Monday it would cease operations nearly three years after it
went public. 
    Klein, a prolific sponsor of special purpose acquisition
companies (SPAC), had launched several such vehicles during the
pandemic-era boom. One of his SPACs took electric-vehicle
company Lucid Group  LCID.O  public in one of the biggest deals
ever.
    But heightened regulatory scrutiny and a poor market for new
listings last year dimmed the appeal of SPACs. Many startups
ended their deals to go public via a SPAC, and popular
blank-check investors such as Chamath Palihapitiya also felt the
pinch.
    SPACs, which offer an alternative to a traditional IPO, have
no business operations other than finding a private company to
take public. 
    Churchill Capital, which had raised $500 million in its
initial public offering in December 2020, said it would return
the capital to shareholders.


 (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
 ((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))