Special purpose acquisition companies: are football clubs going (back) to the stock market?

Stock markets this year, most notably in the U.S., have been boosted by the return of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) as a popular means to fundraise public M&A and bring private companies onto the public markets. Having seen an uptick in fundraising by SPACs since 2017, previous records have been shattered in 2020 as more than $36 billion[1] had been raised on Wall Street as of mid-September. This comes at a time when football clubs and leagues are looking for investors and financiers to help steer their balance sheets through the Covid-19 pandemic[2]. It is no longer only high-net-worth individuals and private equity funds[3] looking to invest in football[4].

This article reviews the trend, examining:

• What is a SPAC?
• Which rules and regulations apply to acquisitions?
• How does this apply to football clubs?
• Current activity in the market