SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) listings have become a nominal vehicle. Stricter market-capitalization requirements for KOSDAQ delisting have made it harder to find merger targets, and even when targets are found, clearing the Korea Exchange's review threshold has grown more difficult. With share prices also struggling after listing, concerns are mounting that SPACs may become entrenched as an unpopular listing track.
According to the investment banking (IB) industry on Monday, inquiries about SPAC listings received by major domestic securities firms have fallen sharply from previous years. While SPAC listings are considered an alternative to conventional initial public offerings (IPOs), the decline stands out particularly given that direct listings are also subdued. As of the first half of this year, the number of companies listed on KOSDAQ excluding SPAC mergers totaled 14, the lowest over the past five years (2022-2026).
"Typically, after signing an underwriting contract, companies discuss in earnest whether to go the SPAC route or pursue a conventional listing, but the reality is that almost no companies want a SPAC," an IB industry official said. "Even when there are some, the majority face concerns about hitting delisting requirements because their expected market capitalization is too small."
The contraction in overall SPAC listing demand is attributed primarily to the exchange's review threshold. According to the Korea Exchange, 20 companies filed for SPAC merger reviews from January 2025 through June this year. Of these, excluding CMDL, Autohands and Luxco, which are currently under review, eight of the remaining 17 withdrew during the review process. CMDL, which is pursuing a merger with Kyobo SPAC No. 15, has gone nine months without a conclusion as a dual-listing issue compounded the situation.
This represents a marked drop in review filings compared with 2024, when 17 of the 26 companies that filed for merger reviews with the exchange listed on KOSDAQ. Indeed, according to the "White Paper on Korea's SPAC Market Investment" released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) in March this year, the SPAC merger success rate last year was 38.5%, the lowest over the past five years. SPACs that fail to merge within three years of listing ultimately face liquidation. Last year, 24 SPACs were delisted, up 16 (200%) from the previous year.
Problems persist even after a successful merger. Unlike conventional IPOs, SPACs set their offering price (merger value) in advance, and as share prices continuously fall below the merger value after listing, the burden of managing share prices has also increased. From last year through this year, a total of nine companies listed on KOSDAQ through SPAC mergers, but as of Monday, the closing prices of seven of them, excluding Sammi Metal (012210) and Samik Pharmaceutical (014950), had not recovered to their merger values. In particular, the market capitalization of Bowon Chemical, which listed in April this year, shrank from 64.3 billion won at the time of listing to 28 billion won, approaching delisting requirements.
This stands in contrast to a situation in which trillions of won continue to pour into subscriptions for "shell SPACs." All nine SPACs that completed institutional demand forecasting in the first half of this year recorded competition ratios exceeding 1,000 to 1. Securities firms can earn subscription fees and other revenues, and individuals can expect returns above deposit interest rates upon liquidation, so shell SPACs continue to be created steadily regardless of whether SPAC mergers succeed. Another IB industry official noted, "There is clearly an aspect in which SPACs' core purpose of merging has faded," adding, "Not only securities firms, which are the entities that list SPACs, but also the exchange need to consider countermeasures together."
