The U.S. has been at the center of SPAC activity over the past two years, but Europe is working to catch up, albeit unevenly, Axios reports.
This past week, the duo behind Pegasus Acquisition Company Europe —French billionaire Bernard Arnault and former UniCredit head Jean Pierre Mustier—announced a second SPAC that will also list in Amsterdam. It will seek to raise 200 million euros ($226 million).
After the American SPAC boom spilled into Europe at the beginning of the year, local SPAC activity dried up at the start of the second half. Since then, it’s picked up again, and more than 30 SPACs have gone public on European exchanges.
Amsterdam is the top listing destination right now, with Frankfurt coming in second.
However, the U.K. is hoping to catch up after revising its safe harbor rules to be friendlier to SPACs and more in line with U.S. regulations. What remains to be seen is how well European-listed SPACs can attract local target companies that could otherwise merge with American SPACs.
