So far in 2021, we have seen more than 500 Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) go public and raise more than $123 billion, and more than 160 of these “blank check firms”.
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For the first time in several years, securities fraud cases declined in 2020, largely due to the pandemic.
1 However, we don’t expect this decrease to continue. Just three months into 2021, there are a number of issues trending in this practice area, including:
Securities litigation against non-U.S.-based issuers;
Securities and derivative litigation arising from SPACs and de-SPAC transactions;
Securities and derivative litigation arising from COVID-19; and
Derivative litigation raising issues relating to diversity.
Increase in Securities Fraud Class Actions Against Non-U.S. Issuers
As reported in Dechert’s Annual Survey, securities class actions filed against non-U.S. issuers actually increased in 2020 going from 64 filed in 2019 to 88 filed in 2020, an increase of 37.5%,
Key Points
Between September 2020 and March 2021, at least 35 SPACs have been hit with one or more shareholder lawsuits filed in New York state court.
These lawsuits generally allege that SPAC directors breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders by providing allegedly inadequate disclosures regarding proposed de-SPAC mergers. Some of these lawsuits also assert claims against the SPAC itself, as well as the target company and its board of directors, for allegedly aiding and abetting the SPAC directors’ breaches.
Although these cases are in their early stages and assert claims that are limited in scope, they signify that the plaintiffs’ bar is actively monitoring and pursuing SPACs. As additional de-SPAC transactions are announced and close, SPAC shareholder lawsuits are likely to multiply, potentially subjecting SPACs, their boards and sponsors to more significant civil risk and exposure.
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In light of the dramatic upswing in the use of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued several public statements highlighting concerns and issues related to SPACs and private operating companies that are going public through business combinations with SPACs. These business combinations are referred to as de-SPAC transactions.
On April 8, 2021, John Coates, Acting Director of the SEC s Division of Corporation Finance, published a statement titled
SPACs, IPOs and Liability Risk Under the Securities Laws, discussing the legal liability risks of de-SPAC transactions and traditional initial public offerings (IPOs).