Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have raised funds at substantial rates, attracting more and more high-profile investors. We reviewed the performance of recent SPACs—a mixed track record—and found a strategy that has produced success: SPACs that are led or co-led by operators rather than solely by investors tend to outperform throughout the deal cycle. One year after taking a target public, operator-led SPACs traded about 10 percent higher than their sector index and much better than other SPACs (a premium of about 40 percent). In this article, we review the changes that have placed SPACs at center stage, and we offer practical suggestions for sponsors that seek to deploy the operator’s edge.After some scandals in the 1990s and regulatory reforms in the 2000s, SPACs had a few moments of popularity. However, they generally remained small and developed a reputation as capital sources of last resort.In the past five years, however, SPACs have reemerged. In 2020, they...
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