 SPACs and the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from KoreaHyung Cheol Kang and Sangwon Lee Research in International Business and Finance, 2024, vol. 72, issue PB Abstract: We examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mergers of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in Korea, where SPACs—since their introduction in 2010—have played a significant role in private company public listings. After the COVID-19 outbreak, SPACs were less likely to merge, but for those which chose to do so, merger announcement returns were on average higher, particularly for those that waited to merge until after the stock market recovered its pre-pandemic value. We also find evidence that SPAC holding period returns from the SPAC’s initial public offering to merger consummation (or liquidation, in the case of SPACs that failed to complete a merger) were on average higher after the outbreak. Overall, our results suggest that, despite their limited lifespan and agency issues, SPACs may operate more efficiently and perform better during periods of economic downturn. Keywords: Korean SPAC; Special purpose acquisition company; COVID-19; Merger (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:72:y:2024:i:pb:s0275531924003313 DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102538 Access Statistics for this article Research in International Business and Finance is currently edited by T. Lagoarde Segot More articles in Research in International Business and Finance from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.