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

Last year, the company announced plans for an IPO via Southport Acquisition Corp, a blank check SPAC, in a deal valued at $1.6 billion. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 6 June 2025

Circle scrapped a $9 billion SPAC merger in late 2022. —Nina Bambysheva, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025

Stablecoin issuer Circle almost went public in 2022, following a $9 billion blank-check deal with Concord Acquisition Corp., a SPAC, but the merger fell through. —Niamh Rowe, Quartz, 27 May 2025

Key Background Trump Media was formed in early 2021, shortly after Donald Trump left office, and went public in March 2024 via a merger with a SPAC—a shell company designed to take startups public. —Zach Everson, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1993, in the meaning defined above