Big SPAC News

Bill Ackman’s SPAC is rumored to acquire either Stripe or RobinhoodImage Courtesy: CNBCSPACs have been the hot thing this year. So many investors from Chamath Palihapitiya to Brad Gerstner are backing SPACs. Even former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan joined the board of a SPAC.No SPAC is making headlines more than the one owned by famous activist investor Bill Ackman. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd ($PSTH) is now trading at $26. He is eying some big acquisitions. Some of these potential acquisitions include:Stripe: Writers on Medium have definitely heard of Stripe. Stripe is a payment processing company helping everyone from large corporations to small and medium enterprises. Stripe is also helping you and me get paid for our articles here on Medium. Some companies that use Stripe include Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber to name a few. Startups and tech unicorns love the service. 66% of online transactions go through Stripe while the average transaction volume per year is $40.15 million. YouTuber and investor “Deadnsyde” has a good video about a potential Stripe acquisition.Robinhood: We all know Robinhood. This summer saw a rise of Robinhood traders. With stimulus checks coming through the mail and having commission-free mobile trading, the stock market became candy crush.What both Robinhood and Stripe have in common is that they are eager to go public. A potential acquisition of any of these startups is a game-changer.There are also rumors that PSTH wants to acquire Bloomberg (Yes, that Bloomberg. The one founded by Michael Bloomberg).There is some big money backing Bill Ackman’s SPAC. Famed value investor and the “Oracle from Boston” Bauspost Capital’s Seth Klarman has a $400 million stake in Ackman’s SPAC. Seth Klarman is betting big on SPACs. He has invested $52 million in former Oakland A’s GM who got famous from Michael…