McDermott Will & Emery has released the October 2015 issue of Inside M&A, which focuses on current issues surrounding special-purpose acquisition companies. Articles in this issue include:
Overview of SPACs and Latest Trends
A number of recent successful business combination transactions involving special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) led by prominent sponsors have driven a resurgence in the SPAC inital public offering (IPO) market and an evolution in some SPAC terms. In this article, we provide an overview of SPACs and discuss the latest trends in SPAC structures and terms.
Creative Business Combination Structures Allow SPACs to Successfully Compete with Non-SPAC Bidders
Certain structural features of SPACs that offer benefits to their public investors often put SPACs at a competitive dis-advantage when they are among multiple bidders for a target company. Recent SPAC business combination transactions demonstrate, however, that careful structuring of a transaction to meet the needs of the target’s owners can overcome these structural challenges and level the playing field for SPACs in a competitive bidding process.
SPAC Directors Cannot Take the Protection of the Business Judgment Rule for Granted
A recent decision by the New York State Supreme Court’s Commercial Division—in AP Services, LLP v. Lobell, et al., No. 651613/12—suggests that certain structural terms of SPACs may make it more challenging for the business judgment rule to apply to decisions by SPAC directors to enter into agreements for business combination transactions.