SPACs Regain Popularity as IPO Alternative for Smaller Firms

After years out in the cold, special purpose acquisition companies are again positioning themselves as an alternative to traditional initial public offerings for businesses that have been left out of the nascent recovery in first-time stock sales.

Only nine of the 100 traditional IPOs priced in 2025 have raised more than $500 million, while two-thirds of these brought in less than $50 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The figures highlight the IPO market’s barbell shape this year, consisting of large, well-established companies on the one hand and riskier small-cap companies on the other.