Technology listings---Partying like it’s 1999 

Initial public offerings are back in Silicon Valley amid the pandemic, after a fashion 

经济学人8月刊

Another route that has gained prominence is the special-purpose acquisition company. These SPACs, as they are known for short, are shell firms that go public promising to buy one or more private businesses with the proceeds from the listing. The private business then fills up the listed shell through a reverse merger. SPACs have a dodgy history; many have underperformed the broader stockmarket. But the latest lot promise to fix the flaws while preserving the benefits, which include direct negotiations over the purchase price that can make deals faster and more predictable. From January to early August 60 SPAC5 went public, raising $22.5bn. In July Bill Ackman, a hedge-fund boss, launched a $5bn-7bn vehicle, the biggest so far.

prominence  n. /ˈprɒmɪnəns/  重要；突出；卓越；出名

• a young actor who has recently risen to prominence 最近崭露头角的一名年轻演员

SPAC:special-purpose acquisition company特殊目的收购公司.是为了并购现有公司而公开上市的收购公司。SPAC 也被称为"targeted acquisition company (TAC)"。SPAC实际上是拥有大量现金的壳公司。专门为未来收购资产和其他公司而设。

reverse merger：反向兼并也叫做反向收购(reverse takeover、reverse buyout、reverse acquisition)。反向兼并是指一家非上市公司在投资银行顾问公司的帮助下获得一家上市壳公司的绝对控股权。

shell firm 空壳公司。因为公司注册成立需要时间,但部分人士可能急需注册成立公司,然后以公司名义签订合同或办理其它业务。因此,专业的咨询服务机构，通常预先注册成立大量公司，以供购买。

Dodgy /ˈdɒdʒi/  adj. 狡猾的，逃避的；善于骗人的；躲闪的；有毛病的；运转不良的；状况不佳的

Underperformed  vt. （股票等）运作差于（一般市场价格）vi. 表现不佳；工作不如预期（或同行）

Lot是一个多义词，释义中有一个指待售商品，这里应该指准备通过SPAC上市的企业

flaw  n./flɔː/  

1.~ (in sth)  错误；缺点 •The argument is full of fundamental flaws. 这段论述充满根本性的错误。2.~ (in sth)  裂痕；裂隙；瑕疵

3.~ (in sb/sth) （性格上的）弱点，缺点 •There is always a flaw in the character of a tragic hero. 悲剧主角总有性格上的缺点。

hedge-fund 对冲基金，采用对冲交易手段的基金称为对冲基金(Hedge Fund)，也称避险基金或套期保值基金。是指金融期货和金融期权等金融衍生工具与金融工具结合后以营利为目的的金融基金。

It is unclear if Silicon Valley will embrace SPACs wholeheartedly. The biggest tech firm to have used one is Nikola, a secretive zero-emission-lorry startup which now boasts a market capitalisation of about $i6bn. Many entrepreneurs and their backers would resist letting their firms be sucked up into a shell. But SPACs have a place in tech world. On August i8th Kevin Hartz, an early investor in Airbnb and Uber, launched one. Ribbit Capital, a VC firm, is reportedly planning another.

boast  /bəʊst/ vt. 夸口说，自吹自擂说；以有…而自豪n. 自夸；值得夸耀的事物，引以为荣的事物vi. 自吹自擂

The IPO-industrial complex is not averse to direct listings or SPACs, even if they are less lucrative than the old-school ways. Bankers predict a diverse future of increasingly tailor-made flotations that, say, target specific investors and predetermine how long staff must hold on to their shares. As Greg Chamberlain of JPMorgan Chase, a bank, sums up, “Not all technology companies are the same. They have different objectives.” So long as startups want to cash in, as all ultimately do, they will need Wall Street to shepherd them through.

averse to 反对、不乐意·He was averse to any change. 他反对任何改变。

lucrative  adj. /ˈluːkrətɪv/赚大钱的；获利多的 • a lucrative business/contract/market 利润丰厚的生意╱合同╱市场

predetermine /ˌpriːdɪˈtɜːmɪn/ 预先决定；事先安排

译文

Another route that has gained prominence is the special-purpose acquisition company. These SPACs, as they are known for short, are shell firms that go public promising to buy one or more private businesses with the proceeds from the listing. The private business then fills up the listed shell through a reverse merger. SPACs have a dodgy history; many have underperformed the broader stockmarket. But the latest lot promise to fix the flaws while preserving the benefits, which include direct negotiations over the purchase price that can make deals faster and more predictable. From January to early August 60 SPAC5 went public, raising $22.5bn. In July Bill Ackman, a hedge-fund boss, launched a $5bn-7bn vehicle, the biggest so far.

另外一个瞩目的路线就是特殊目的收购公司（SPAC）。众所周知，SPAC出现时间较短，是空壳公司在上市的时候承诺会买一个或多个私有企业。此后，私有企业通过反向兼并填补壳公司达到上市的目的。SPAC有一个状况不太好的历史，大部分在股票市场表现不佳。但最新一批承诺弥补这些缺陷并保留原有优势。这包含能够加快交易和提高可预测性的对收购价直接议价的优势。今年1月到8月初，共60家SPAC上市，募集资金225亿美元。今年7月，一家对冲基金老板，Bill·Ackman上市了价值50亿-70亿美元的金融工具，是目前最大的SPAC.

It is unclear if Silicon Valley will embrace SPACs wholeheartedly. The biggest tech firm to have used one is Nikola, a secretive zero-emission-lorry startup which now boasts a market capitalisation of about $i6bn. Many entrepreneurs and their backers would resist letting their firms be sucked up into a shell. But SPACs have a place in tech world. On August i8th Kevin Hartz, an early investor in Airbnb and Uber, launched one. Ribbit Capital, a VC firm, is reportedly planning another.

硅谷是否能够真诚接受SPAC还是一个未知数。目前为止，尝试这种途径上市的是NIKOLA公司，一家神秘的零排放汽车公司，目前撬动市场资本160亿美元。很多企业及其背后资本不愿意其企业陷入空壳公司。但SPAC在科技企业中有自己的一席之地。8月18日。Kevince·Hartz，早期投资爱彼迎和Uber的投资者，筹备了一家SPAC。风投企业Ribbit Capital据说在筹备另一家SPAC。

The IPO-industrial complex is not averse to direct listings or SPACs, even if they are less lucrative than the old-school ways. Bankers predict a diverse future of increasingly tailor-made flotations that, say, target specific investors and predetermine how long staff must hold on to their shares. As Greg Chamberlain of JPMorgan Chase, a bank, sums up, “Not all technology companies are the same. They have different objectives.” So long as startups want to cash in, as all ultimately do, they will need Wall Street to shepherd them through.

对于IPO综合行业来说，并不反对直接上市或者SPAC，尽管他们比传统上市途径挣得少。投行预测未来会有更多样的定制类型上市途径，这意味着，可以瞄准具体投资群体、预先决定员工持股禁抛时间。正如摩根大通Greg Chamberlain总结所说：并不是所有的科技企业都一样，他们的目标都不一样。只要初创企业想要融资变现，如大家一样，他就需要华尔街帮助其进入资本市场。