SPACs raised billions. As mergers dry up, we follow the money
It hasn’t gone where you think
American capitalism has a special reverence for large numbers. They can frighten as debt or reassure as backstops. The $260bn raised by special-purpose acquisition companies (spacs) since the start of 2020 lacks the multitrillion-dollar aura of federal debt or America’s pandemic stimulus. It is nevertheless big enough to have become a defining symbol of recent market mania.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Where did the cash go?”
Business May 21st 2022
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