Sectors
Foley & Lardner LLP partner Louis Lehot authored the Westlaw Today article, “The de-SPAC transaction: What went wrong and what public company GCs should still know,” examining the de-SPAC transaction surge between 2020 and 2022 and its aftermath.
“The de-SPAC transaction was, albeit briefly, the defining feature of the capital markets landscape,” Lehot notes.
Lehot highlights that “the de-SPAC moment has passed, but the legal and governance work it left behind has not.” He explains the governance gaps that emerged as companies took a more compressed route to the public markets and the accompanying potential legal exposures, including aggressive financial projections now subject to SEC enforcement and a wave of earn-out disputes as performance milestones are missed in a changed market.
“The unwind of the de-SPAC cycle is a reminder that public company readiness cannot be shortcut,” Lehot concludes.
