Challenges in the Development of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) With Specific Regard to the Indian Corporate Sector

SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) have been rising in significance and prominence all across global capital markets, particularly over the course of past few years. They have existed and been relevant for some time now, but have experienced an exponential increase of late, having a resurgence in several prominent markets, such as the United States. The sustainable energy company ReNew Power utilized the SPAC concept as a major part of their growth plan and consequently found themselves listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. One major effect of this is that it has rendered SPACs a big topic of conversation in India.2 But what is a SPAC? A special purpose acquisition company is a corporation with the objective of raising capital through IPO’S (Initial Public Offerings). They originate as a shell company, with the amount raised being routed through to a trust fund until a target operational firm is identified. Post identification, the respective shareholders are asked for approval, and those who are not interested or piqued in the sale of their shares are afforded the opportunity to redeem them. Post this, the de-SPAC step begins, which deals with the carrying out of the acquisition transaction. The widespread implementation of SPAC with respect to Indian markets is once again being mooted, following the aforementioned ReNew Power’s merger with a US-based special purpose acquisition company. Several high-profile companies are investors in SPAC’S, including but not limited to Flipkart and Mahindra & Mahindra. SPAC’S are being used more and more by start-ups to facilitate easier access to stock market. As a result of all these changes being ushered in by the introduction of the SPAC process, India will soon amend it SPAC rules and GoPro SPAC, to better reflect the prevalence and importance of SPAC’S.