The SPAC Podcast

What signals should investors watch for in SPAC valuations? Ryan McGuire highlights the key red flags, from difficulty attracting PIPE investors to high redemption rates, that can point to declining sentiment or questionable deal terms.

Guest: Ryan McGuire: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanquinnmaguire/

Watch more episodes at: YouTube.com/@UCiOCVRrRqqmq20QNV9I43Zg 
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn:
👉 Michael J. B...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Mohammad Hasham, Partner and West Region Leader for Capital Markets & IPO at CohnReznick, shares best practices for sponsors and management teams considering a SPAC transaction. He emphasizes the importance of engaging experienced advisors early in the process, rather than waiting until issues arise during audits.

Mohammad explains how hiring the right accounting advisors, auditors, and legal...

In this SPAC Podcast Spotlight, Managing Director Dimitre Genov of Brookline Capital Markets breaks down the rise, fall, and correction of the SPAC market. He explains how SPACs were once primarily used for special situations, but during the 2021 boom became a go-to path for late-stage private companies, especially in tech, EV, and biotech.

Dimitre highlights the factors that fueled the boom, including low interest rates and investo...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, co-hosts Michael Blankenship and Joshua Wilson are joined by Alexandra Low, Counsel at Appleby Global in the Cayman Islands. Alexandra leads the SPAC team at her firm and brings a wealth of experience from both Canadian and offshore legal markets. She walks us through the critical role Cayman legal counsel plays in preparing for S-1 filings—whether confidential or live—and the importance of stro...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Candice Beaumont, Chief Investment Officer of L Investments, shares her advice for women pursuing leadership roles in finance and investment. She emphasizes the importance of confidence, assembling strong teams, and recognizing that women are excelling in today’s financial landscape just as much — and sometimes more — than men.

Her message is clear: with determination and the right support, women...

Chris Sorrells explains his disciplined approach to evaluating and structuring SPAC transactions. From prioritizing unique assets to ensuring two years of cash at close, Chris outlines what separates lasting companies from overhyped deals.

Guest: Chris Sorrells – Chairman and CEO of Spring Valley
Connect with Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-sorrells-5a6a836/

Let’s Connect on LinkedIn:
👉 Michael J. Blankenship - http...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Patrick Sturgeon, Managing Partner at Brookline Capital Markets, discusses what types of companies are best suited for going public through a SPAC merger. He explains why fundamentally strong businesses with good products, growth potential, and solid operating margins make attractive public companies.

Patrick also highlights why certain asset-heavy sectors — such as banks, insurance companies, re...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Nick Morgan, Partner at Paul Hastings LLP and co-founder of ICAN (Investor Choice Advocates Network), discusses the SEC’s new SPAC rules and their impact on investor access.

Nick argues that while the rules were framed as investor protection, in practice they reflect what he calls a “protection through prohibition” mindset. By making disclosure obligations more difficult and transaction costs hig...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Machua Millett, Chief Innovation Officer at Lockton Companies, explains how the Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance landscape for SPACs and de-SPACs has evolved since the 2021 boom.

Following a surge in SPAC IPOs, deal volume, and resulting litigation, insurance premiums spiked sharply in 2021. At their peak, SPAC-related policies were among the most expensive in the public company space...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Nick Morgan, Partner at Paul Hastings LLP and co-founder of ICAN (Investor Choice Advocates Network), explains how the SEC’s 2024 SPAC rules may affect small sponsors and entrepreneurs navigating the regulatory landscape.

Nick emphasizes that while current SEC leadership may not pursue as many aggressive enforcement actions as in prior years, the rules themselves present challenges. In particular...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Machua “Motsch” Millett, Chief Innovation Officer at Lockton Companies, addresses the most common misconceptions SPAC sponsors and board members have when it comes to Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance.

Machua dispels the myth that “insurance never pays,” emphasizing that properly structured policies often do. He also clarifies where risk actually lives in a SPAC’s lifecycle: it’s not d...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Nick Morgan, Partner at Paul Hastings LLP and co-founder of ICAN (Investor Choice Advocates Network), outlines potential legal and advocacy strategies ICAN may pursue in response to the SEC’s new SPAC rules.

Nick points to one central question: Does the SEC even have statutory authority to change PSLRA liability protections? ICAN is considering challenging that very issue, not from a sponsor’s pe...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Caitlyn Van Valin, Vice President at Odyssey Trust, explains why SPAC sponsors can’t afford to overlook what happens after the deal closes.

While many focus heavily on the IPO and deal mechanics, Caitlyn emphasizes that post-merger shareholder recordkeeping and corporate actions are where the real operational lifecycle begins. She shares how Odyssey is uniquely positioned to support companies thr...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Louis Camhi offers a nuanced take on the state of the SPAC market and why it’s still too early to say, “SPACs are back.” Rather than chasing headlines, Louis explains that SPACs are best understood as cyclical tools within the capital markets, just like IPOs, M&A, or direct listings.

He highlights that the IPO market has been largely dormant in recent years, and SPAC performance is directly t...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Machua “Motsch” Millett breaks down how D&O insurance needs to evolve across a SPAC’s lifecycle, from IPO to de-SPAC and beyond. He explains how SPACs have historically managed risk by purchasing standalone policies at each stage and why that approach often creates gaps in coverage and increased cost.

Machua introduces a more modern solution his team pioneered: the “DeSPAC-age” policy model. ...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Nick Morgan, Partner at Paul Hastings LLP and co-founder of ICAN (Investor Choice Advocates Network), explains how the SEC’s new SPAC rules may influence litigation risk for sponsors and targets.

Drawing on his experience as an SEC trial counsel, Nick notes that while today’s SEC may be less aggressive than under Chair Gensler, the statute of limitations is long, sometimes six years, ten years, o...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Caitlyn Van Valin, Vice President at Odyssey Trust, explains why the transfer agent and trust industry is undergoing a long-overdue transformation and why SPACs have been a major catalyst.

For nearly a decade, one incumbent controlled 99% of the market. SPACs were considered “too risky,” and innovation stalled. That all began to change in 2020. Caitlyn shares how Odyssey broke into the U.S. SPAC ...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Adeel Rouf shares his forward-looking perspective on the SPAC market heading into late 2025 and 2026. With traditional IPO windows largely shut for mid-market companies, Adeel explains why SPACs are becoming increasingly relevant again, especially for private equity and family office-backed portfolio companies searching for liquidity.

He projects a healthy wave of 70 to 100 SPACs as both digestib...

In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Machua “Motsch” Millett, Chief Innovation Officer at Lockton Companies, shares his outlook on D&O risk for SPACs and de-SPACs heading into 2025 and beyond.

Drawing from decades of experience advising public and pre-public companies, Machua warns that we’ve seen this market cycle before: an uptick in activity, rising headlines, and inexperienced teams rushing in. This time, however, there’s a ...