Legendary Wall Street hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has a new idea for a SPAC.

What’s happening:

• Bill Ackman has received approval from the SEC to go ahead with his new twist on a SPAC, called a Special Acquisition Rights Company
• Known as Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, Bill Ackman says they are seeking a deal with a private company looking to raise at least $1.5B USD

Why it matters:

• The rise of the SPAC as a way for companies to go public previously spurred hundreds of new listings on US based stock exchanges
• The new version Bill Ackman and Pershing Square has launched differentiates based on allowing investors to know the target of the company it will acquire before they invest, as opposed to after
• The IPO and SPAC market in the United States has been very quiet of late and many may see this as a positive sign of momentum coming back into public markets

The intrigue:

• Bill Ackman previously launched a SPAC known as Pershing Square Tontine and raised a record breaking $4B USD to pursue an acquisition
• However, it ultimately never went forward with any deal with a private company and eventually returned capital to investors