Q4 & FY 2019 SPAC IPO Auditor League Tables
Below are the newly released SPAC Auditor League Tables for both the Fourth-Quarter, as well as Full Year 2019. As you can see below, the Auditor’s League is essentially a two-horse race. Marcum LLP and WithumSmith+Brown (“Withum”) consistently dominate the category, leaving little room for competition.
For Full Year 2019, Marcum managed 29 auditing assignments to Withum’s 21, with Grant Thornton clocking in at four total. KPMG, BPM, Maloney Bailey, RBSM and UHY, all worked on one SPAC each.
Looking at both the Fourth Quarter as well as Full Year 2019, Marcum led the league in both volume and deal count with $6.6 billion and 29 SPACs, respectively. However, Withum was not far behind at $5.2 billion and 21 SPACs. However, you will notice that Withum had a bigger average deal size for 2019 ($245.9 million to Marcum’s $229.3 million), due to Withum being the auditor on a greater number of larger sized deals. Withum’s smallest sized SPAC was Amplitude Healthcare’s $100 million IPO (AHCO), whereas Marcum’s smallest IPO was Orisun Acquisition Corp.’s $44 million (ORSN).
Grant Thornton LP, ranked third and had roughly the same average deal size as Withum ($246.1 million) with four auditing assignments.
It was a strong year for Marcum and Withum, clearly the leaders in the SPAC auditing category. And given the success of SPACs in 2019, it will be interesting to see if any of the other auditors make a push in 2020 to give these leaders some competition. SPAC experience counts though, and these two auditors have it in spades.
You can find all of the published League Tables by clicking here.
Ranked by Volume
(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the header cells)
FY 2019
| Rank | Auditor | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcum LLP | 6,648.8 | 29 | 229.3 | 48.9% |
| 2 | WithumSmith+Brown, PC | 5,164.6 | 21 | 245.9 | 38.0% |
| 3 | Grant Thornton LP | 984.4 | 4 | 246.1 | 7.2% |
| 4 | KPMG LLP | 400.0 | 1 | 400.0 | 2.9% |
| 5 | BPM LLP | 172.5 | 1 | 172.5 | 1.3% |
| 6 | Malone Bailey LLP | 115.0 | 1 | 115.0 | 0.8% |
| 7 | RBSM LLP | 57.5 | 1 | 57.5 | 0.4% |
| 8 | UHY LLP | 57.5 | 1 | 57.5 | 0.4% |
Q4 2019
| Rank | Auditor | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count (Total) | Avg Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcum LLP | 1,788.8 | 9 | 198.8 | 52.9% |
| 2 | WithumSmith+Brown, PC | 1,333.0 | 7 | 190.4 | 39.4% |
| 3 | Grant Thornton LP | 258.8 | 1 | 258.8 | 7.7% |
Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume
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