SPAC

abbreviation or noun

ˈspak 

plural SPACs

: special purpose acquisition company

Wall Street's biggest gold rush of recent years, SPACs are listed shell companies that raise funds to acquire a private company and take it public, allowing targets to sidestep the more onerous paperwork and regulatory checks faced by traditional initial public offerings.

—Katanga Johnson

Although special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) could potentially fill some of this capital-providing role, they tend to focus more on larger businesses.

—Will Rhind

Examples of SPAC in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Agility Robotics, the company behind the bipedal Digit robot that counts Amazon as one of its backers, went public via a SPAC on Thursday. — Annie Palmer, CNBC, 8 Nov. 2026

Agility, which went public on Thursday through a SPAC merger, is among a group of US humanoid makers that want to automate the world’s factories and compete with China’s fast-growing sector. — J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 6 Nov. 2026

Skillz, a mobile gaming company the fund bought into in 2019, went public via SPAC deal in 2020—but for the most part the investments have appreciated in value that has yet to be fully realized by owners. — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Then there is the other crop of crypto firms that went public using a non-traditional process such as a SPAC. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1993, in the meaning defined above