{
  "title": "How to Do a SPAC: Sponsors, De-SPAC Mergers, Costs and the 2024 Rules",
  "url": "https://acquisitions.com/blog/how-to-do-a-spac/",
  "author": "Moran Pober",
  "publisher": "Acquisitions.com",
  "published": "2026-10-25",
  "updated": "2026-10-25",
  "section": "IPOs and SPACs",
  "keyword": "how to do a SPAC",
  "short_answer": "A SPAC is a shell company that raises money in its own IPO, usually at $10 a unit, holds it in trust, and has about two years to merge with a private business. That merger (the \"de-SPAC\") is how the private company becomes public. The sponsor keeps about 20% of the shares for almost nothing; public investors can redeem their shares for their part of the trust.",
  "facts": {
    "Time to list the shell": [
      "A SPAC IPO is a short S-1 with no operating history",
      "12 to 18 months of preparation for the operating company",
      "Skadden 2023 review"
    ],
    "Time for the sponsor to find and close a deal": [
      "Typically 18 to 24 months, absent an extension",
      "n/a",
      "Skadden; Columbia (Gahng, Ritter, Zhang)"
    ],
    "Signing to closing of the merger": [
      "5.2 months on average in 2021; 6.8 months in 2022",
      "n/a",
      "Skadden 2023 review"
    ],
    "Underwriting fee": [
      "5.5% of SPAC IPO proceeds (about 2% up front, rest deferred)",
      "4% to 7% of proceeds",
      "Columbia; PwC via our IPO post"
    ],
    "Exchange fees (Nasdaq)": [
      "$80,000 entry, $85,000 a year",
      "$50,000 to $325,000 entry; $56,000 to $199,000 a year",
      "Nasdaq Initial Listing Guide"
    ],
    "Sponsor's promote": [
      "About 20% of post-IPO shares, often partly forfeited",
      "None",
      "Columbia; Skadden"
    ],
    "Cash left per $10 share at merger": [
      "Median $6.67 in the 2019-2020 sample",
      "Full proceeds less fees",
      "Harvard-published study"
    ]
  },
  "sources": [
    "https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/what-you",
    "https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2021/03/11/the-lowdown-on-spacs/",
    "https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2020/11/19/a-sober-look-at-spacs/",
    "https://site.warrington.ufl.edu/ritter/files/IPOs-SPACs.pdf",
    "https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/2024/01/33-11265",
    "https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2024-8",
    "https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/assets/initialguide.pdf",
    "https://www.skadden.com/-/media/files/publications/2023/06/de_spac_transaction_trends_in_2023.pdf?rev=a0def9cfccae4a3fa2b31b3efc20e548"
  ],
  "license": "Facts may be quoted with attribution to Acquisitions.com and a link to the url above."
}