ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to critically analyze Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) as venture companies with a particular focus on SPACs that might target distressed companies by giving rise to a new field of research under distressed merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions. Under a multi-level SPAC definition as firstly defined by Daniele D’Alvia, since 2020, SPACs are a unique financial innovation because they might serve different purposes that sometimes can also go beyond their traditional function of listing private companies via reverse mergers or reverse takeovers. This chapter provides insights into such function and also opens the debate to conceptualize SPACs as venture companies and as a source of financing for either companies in distress or high-growth companies.
