what is a special purpose acquisition company spac 
a special purpose acquisition company spac is a company without commercial operations and is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering ipo for the purpose of acquiring or merging with an existing company also known as blank check companies spacs have existed for decades but their popularity has soared in recent years in 2020 247 spacs were created with 80 billion invested and in 2021 there were a record 613 spac ipos by comparison only 59 spacs came to market in 2019 12lara antal investopedia