SPACInsider

This week, in a special edition of the SPACInsider Podcast, we speak with David Cote, Executive Chairman of Vertiv, and Tom Knott, who was previously Head of Permanent Capital at Goldman Sachs, who joined forces in 2019 on GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. GS I combined with Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) in what has become the most successful SPAC deal of all time. We discuss what were the critical ingredients to...

Providing dedicated power to industrial facilities is a task that has drawn in a variety of different energy technologies and, increasingly, a variety of SPAC transactions. This week I speak with Jereme Kent, founder and CEO of One Energy.  One Energy provides dedicated clean power generation to industrial clients allowing them to lock in cheaper energy, sell power back to the grid or turn their o...

SPACs have brought a number of sustainability companies to market, but the economics of carbon credits have always been on the edge of those specific opportunities. Focus Impact Acquisition Corp.  (NASDAQ:FIAC) aims to change that with its $213 million combination with  DevvStream , a Canadian company focused on generating carbon credits with proprietary technology-based approaches. This week, we...

SPAC deals have provided a variety of ways to try and ride the growth in the private aviation space. One of the most successful so far has been to approach it not through the aircraft or sales of flights, but as an infrastructure play. This week, we speak with Francisco Gonzalez, CFO of private hangar operator Sky Harbour (NYSE:SKYH). Francisco explains why he believes Sky Harbour has traded consi...

Spot lithium prices may be down, but Stardust Power believes that makes now an even more important time to build new US-based lithium refineries. This week, we speak with Roshan Pujari, Co-founder and CEO of Stardust Power and Chandra Patel, CEO and Chairman of  Global Partner Acquisition Corp. II  (NASDAQ:GPAC). The two announced a  $490 million business combination in November of 2023. Roshan ex...

Developing new medical treatments takes time and money, which is generally where investors come in. But,  Abpro  has managed to resolve many of those questions before SPAC investors will join the show. This week, we speak with  Abpro  Chairman and CEO Ian Chan and Shahraab Ahmad, Chairman and CEO of  Atlantic Coastal Acquisition Corp II  (Nasdaq: ACAB). The two announced a  $500 million combinatio...

Not all SPAC officers get involved in order to ride the process all the way to a seat as CEO of the combined company, but Jaymes Winters walks us through his journey of how he started Nubia Brand International Corp as a newcomer to the asset class and why he is now leading its target company, Solidion (Nasdaq: STI). This week we’ll speak with Jaymes about the changing set of options SPACs have at...

Should de-SPAC’d companies consider buying back their shares rather than making offers for their warrants?  Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) believes the answer is yes. This week, we catch up with with Abacus Life Chairman and CEO Jay Jackson. He tells us why he thinks his company’s stock has managed to perform well in the six months since closing its SPAC combination and why he has taken the unorthodox d...

In this special edition of the SPACInsider podcast on the SEC’s new SPAC rules, Kristi Marvin, from SPACInsider, spoke with a panel of SPAC legal experts to help unpack the hefty 581 pages included in the release. This originally aired as a live webinar, which may be viewed on SPACInsider's website  H ERE. Joining Kristi is Derek Dostal, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Doug Ellenoff, p...

AI was one of the big themes for SPACs in 2023. Now in 2024, investor appetite and the market opportunity around AI is just as strong. This week, we speak with Michael Zacharski, CEO of BEN and Chris Gaertner, Co-CEO and CFO of DHC Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: DHCA). The two announced a $358 million combination in September. Michael explains how BEN has built an AI customer engagement tool focused o...

Buzz around generative AI has been off to the races lately and that is exactly where Zapata AI has put many of its tools to work. This week, we speak with Christopher Savoie, CEO and Co-founder of Zapata AI and Bill Sandbrook, Co-CEO and Chairman of Andretti Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: WNNR). The two announced a $283 million deal in September. Bill explains how the Andretti team’s experience with Zap...

This week, in a special edition of the SPACInsider Podcast, SPACInsider founder Kristi Marvin speaks with Omeed Malik, Chairman and CEO of the Colombier SPACs. She asks Omeed what brought him into the SPAC market and how his first SPAC, Colombier I , navigated the rapidly changing market as it closed in on its combination with PublicSquare (NYSE:PSQH) . He discusses the opportunity and risks at pl...

This week, we speak with iLearningEngine’s CEO Harish Chidambaran and Matt Safaii, Chairman and CEO of Arrowroot Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ARRW). The two announced a $1.4 billion deal in April. AI may be the major buzzword of 2023, but iLearningEngines has been working on AI tools since 2010. Now, it hopes to use a SPAC transaction as its next step. Harish explains how the company has developed a...

This week, we get into both sides of a SPAC transaction in the form of Kirk Taylor. He helped steer American Acquisition Opportunity and now serves as CFO of Royalty Management Holdings (Nasdaq: RMCO), with which the SPAC merged in early November. Royalty Management has crafted a portfolio of royalty streams from mining operations as well as some industries like water treatment where such financin...

This week, we speak with Esteban Saldarriaga, CEO of LatAm Logistics Properties and Tom Hennessy, Chairman and CEO of the SPAC, two (NYSE: TWOA). The pair announced a $578 million combination in August. Esteban explains why the timing is particularly attractive to do a SPAC deal to accelerate his company’s portfolio expansion in the current market climate and what opportunities and challenges lie...

This week, we speak with J. Clay Sell, CEO of X-energy , which announced a $1.18 billion combination with Ares Acquisition Corporation in December 2022. Wind and solar have each seen big booms in adoption in the 21st century due to a mix of technology and incentives aligning at the same time. Could it once again be nuclear power’s turn? Clay tells us how innovative smaller-reactor designs can carv...

Biotech firms tend to come on to SPACs’ radar when they still have some clinical work to complete to get to an approved medicine or device, but Avertix is ahead of that particular curve. This week, we speak with Tim Moran, President and CEO of Avertix, and Ross Haghighat, CEO and CFO of BioPlus Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: BIOS). The two announced a $195 million dollar combination in May of this yea...

Sustainable materials are starting to take a bite out of the share of single-use plastics in circulation, but replacing the full $600 billion plastics market is going to take more innovation and much more capital. This week, we speak Brian Gordon, President and COO of Verde Bioresins and Jin-Goon Kim, Chairman and CEO of TLGY Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: TLGY). The two announced a $433 million...

Renewable energy sources have long been pressed on the fact that most can only supply power for certain portions of the day. But, what if you could combine multiple renewable technologies into a refinery that had round-the-clock output? This week we speak with Craig Wood, CEO of Vast , and Guillermo Sierra, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Nabors Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: NETC). The pair announ...

As companies find new ways of automating business processes with AI, a new AI-driven approach to auto insurance is heading West from India with the help of a SPAC deal. This week, we speak Rohan Malhotra, CEO and co-founder of Roadzen  and Steven Carlson from the sponsor of Vahanna Tech Edge Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: VHNA) The two announced a $965 million combination in February.  Rohan discuss...

This week, we get an update from Brandon Mintz, CEO of Bitcoin Depot , which recently closed its SPAC combination with GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp. in June. Brandon shares what advice he has for other companies considering a SPAC merger in the current market and discusses how Bitcoin Depot is hitting the ground running with its acquisition pipeline now that it has public capital at its disposa...

SPAC structures can provide unique opportunities to bring together many pieces to a new puzzle, which is very much the case with this week’s deal. This week, we speak with John Schaible, Chairman and CEO of Quantum Fintech Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: QFTA), and Craig Ridenhour, Chief Business Development Officer at AtlasClear . John and Craig explain how they have crafted a three-way merger to...

The London Stock Exchange has seen several of its companies decamp for Wall Street and SPACs have become a new avenue for those companies to skip across the pond. This week, we speak with Hervé Tessler, CEO of Noventiq (LSE:NVNQ) and Jerry Letter, CFO and COO of Corner Growth Acquisition Corp. They explain why they think Noventiq will be better valued on the Nasdaq following the close of their $80...

Car enthusiasts have been bolting carbon fiber wheels onto high performance vehicles for years. But, the hitherto luxury add-on brings real benefits to vehicle weight and energy economy, both of which have a new importance in the age of EVs. This week, we speak with Carbon Revolution CEO Jake Dingle. Carbon Revolution is working to scale up its carbon fiber wheel production to provide the wheels a...

With lithium supply for EVs and other batteries tight and much of it coming with geopolitical baggage, one new SPAC deal is looking to put forward a lithium stock with less baggage. Australia and Frankfurt-listed miner European Lithium (ASX:EUR) announced an $838 million deal in October to spin off its Wolfsberg lithium mine in Austria in a combination with Sizzle Acquisition Corp. The new Nasdaq-...