Billions in IPOs yet SPACs take few firms public

Anaemic activity: Pedestrians walk past an initial public offering signage displayed at the New York Stock Exchange. The current crop of agreed mergers is drawing only lukewarm interest, data from SPAC Research show. — Bloomberg

NEW YORK: After a flurry of initial public offerings (IPOs) that raised US$11.7bil this year, a new crop of blank-cheque firms are joining a long queue: all the other vehicles waiting for the chance to take a company public.

The rush of IPOs marks the busiest start to a year since 2021’s boom, with a whopping 53 companies raising four times as much as in the same period last year, according to data from SPAC Research, which tracks the industry.