By: André Jerusalem

You SPACs, also known as “blank check” IPOs, are already known in the American financial market (Nasdaq), as they are one of the most flexible ways of raising funds to carry out an IPO (public offering).

This type of fundraising is not yet available in Brazil, but it is already attracting interest from several investors, so much so that on April 6 of this year, B3 launched a guide for “SPACs”. This initiative is based on the principle that there are no legal impediments or even regulatory obstacles to the development of this type of investment vehicle in the country.

The SPAC craze has spread internationally after the records set in 2021. In 2021, there were 613 IPOs of this type of non-operating company, raising around U$ 162.5 billion on the market, according to the platform “spacensider.com”. As of April 6 of this year, 55 IPOs had been made, raising approximately US$10 billion in cash.

Despite their fame, SPACs have been losing traction for a number of reasons. Due to the large number of SPACs launched in recent years, especially in the US, the market has been inflated and many structures are having difficulty finding a company mature enough to carry out the business combination and take it to the stock exchange. Another point that has been questioned due to this type of operation is the optimism given to some operational forecasts. Around 31 selection processes took place from investors related to SPACs, compared to only five in 2020.

Even so, the SPAC market abroad, especially in the US, remains much larger than it was four years ago. In 2018, there were 46 listings of this type of vehicle throughout the year, which is a smaller number than that recorded in the first three months of this year.

It is worth remembering that last year, the consultancy firm Alvarez & Marçal obtained the registration of the first Brazilian SPAC structure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) and, in parallel, approval of the listing on B3.