At the SPAC of Dawn
The latter half of 2023 has largely told a story of retrenchment in the SPAC market as much of the excess in the domain has found itself terminating and liquidating. But, the increase in outgoing has not completely canceled out the boom in incoming as three new SPACs filed to IPO yesterday alone.
Other bellwethers of a rebound have so far stayed away like deeper involvement of bulge bracket underwriters and veteran SPAC sponsors jumping back in with both feet. But, the impressive amount of fresh grass on the meadow does break from the gloomy fog of much of the year.
It also doesn’t hurt that 2023 is going out with two transactions that price de-SPACs above their combination valuation in successive weeks – well above in Cerevel’s case, without even a need to adjust for stock split changes.
News and Rumors
- PR: AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) has agreed to acquire neuroscience drug developer Cerevel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CERE) for $45 per share at a $8.7 billion in one of the most lucrative de-SPAC exits of all time. The deal may well vault the Arya team up the serial sponsor leader board where it already sits as the sixth-most successful team having completed three biotech deals between 2020 and 2021.
- Axios: X-energy, which canceled a combination with Ares virtually at the altar in October, has now raised $80 million in a private Series C for yet undisclosed terms.
Liquidations
-
InterPrivate III Financial Partners (NYSE:IPVF) has determined to redeem all of its outstanding shares of Class A common stock, effective as of December 21. As of the close of business on the last day of trading, December 8, the shares will be deemed cancelled and will represent only the rights to receive the per-share redemption price of approximately $10.75.


At the SPAC of Dawn During a week in which rare earth mining and space de-SPACs have seen major gains, another blast from the past is making serious waves in the market. EV battery developer QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) rose to a 52-week high of $13.79 yesterday and is cruising even higher in the pre-market. The company...
Cantor Equity Partners I (NASDAQ:CEPO) has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with Bitcoin Standard Treasury in a transaction that is worth about $4.8 billion. Bitcoin Standard Treasury aims to bring in capital from a number of equity instruments to build up one of the largest US-listed Bitcoin treasuries. The combined company is expected...
At the SPAC of Dawn Several de-SPACs have made market-moving announcements recently and they haven’t forgotten to cash in on them. Fresh off of announcing $500 million strategic investment and partnership with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), rare earth miner MP Materials (NYSE:MP) has followed that up with a $500 million public offering, netting the company a cool...
Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE:PAII.U) announced the pricing of its $175 million IPO and its units are expected to begin trading on the NYSE under the symbol “PAII.U”, Thursday, July 17, 2025. The new SPAC plans to focus its search on companies within the energy sector that constitute critical links in the supply chain of the...
At the SPAC of Dawn Rare earth miner MP Materials (NYSE:MP) was one of the early winners of the 2020 SPAC boom, having picked up momentum following its 2020 deal with Fortress Value. But, the company’s news that it will become a major supplier of battery materials for Apple’s empire of electronic devices has sent...