The global marketplace is constantly changing. The people behind this are called movers and shakers. In this context, movers and shakers are influential people and groups that have enough power to alter our financial ecosystem worldwide. Names like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk can be associated with the term due to how much impact their work has caused in our society. We can now order food online and have it delivered in a self-driving car, for instance.
What a lot of the general public fails to see is that these big names started out small—they required capital to transform their abstract ideas into tangible, multi-million dollar products and corporations. But there is another set of movers and shakers that are making that happen. These are called SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies.
SPACs initiate funding through IPOs—or initial public offerings—transforming a private company into a public company. Generally, SPACs work with SPAC auditors to take the right steps to make sure their target companies are complying with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board or PCAOB for short, among other goals. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what a SPAC audit entails and at some of the key players in the field.
What is a SPAC Audit?
To understand a SPAC audit, we first need to understand SPACs. A SPAC is a company that acquires other existing companies by purchasing them via SPAC IPOs. SPACs serve as sponsors with private equity to private companies looking to go public, otherwise known as target companies. These SPAC transactions consequently lead to a SPAC merger—or a business combination—which could take at least two years to complete.
That being said, SPAC audits are processes that ensure target companies comply with the financial and legal standards set by the PCAOB. SPAC auditing takes into account the target company’s industry, marketing, information systems, and human resources among other aspects. Additionally, these types of audits consider the target market, financial reporting, internal control, corporate governance, and any other additional auditor deemed necessary.
Marcum BP
A name that stands out from the rest in the world of SPAC auditing is Marcum BP. Marcum BP is an audit firm that provides audit and consulting services along with wealth management, strategic marketing, and executive staffing. They use risk analytics technology combined with financial risk management advisory to provide nationally recognized audits. Marcum BP is also in business with over 30 clients in China, providing them with tax and transaction advisory services in addition to audit and assurance services.
Matt Gline
Another mover and shaker of the SPAC ecosystem is Matthew Gline, the Chief Executive Officer—or CEO—of Roivant Sciences, founded by Vivek Ramaswamy. Mr. Gline has a rich history of success. He earned his BA degree in Physics from Harvard College and later went on to serve as VP at Barclays, Enterprise Risk Management Advisory for corporate clients. Next, he became the VP at Goldman Sachs where he worked in Fixed Income Digital Structuring. Lastly, before becoming CEO at Roivant Sciences, he served as Chief Financial Officer—or CFO.
Roivant Sciences
As part of one of the most recent news, Matt Gline oversaw the SPAC deal between Roivant Sciences and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma—a pharmaceutical company based in Japan. In the deal, the Japanese company acquired options to get ownership interests of six biopharma subsidiaries at Roivant Sciences. This SPAC deal was accomplished with a $7.3B SPAC transaction, SPAC merger with Montes Archimedes Acquisitions Corp (MAAC), and hundreds of millions of dollars of private investments held in trust by MAAC.
These are some of the examples of our global market’s movers and shakers. In conjunction, they are helping create innovative and regulated solutions in the biopharma industry. More solutions like this are created via SPAC transactions and are unknown to the world. This article aims to explain these world-changing groups and processes for the general public’s knowledge.
