For a brief moment not too long ago, special purpose acquisition companies seemed to be a godsend for investment banks hit by the dearth of IPOs. Lots of people seemed enamored with the concept, including Thomas O. Hicks and Ronald Perelman. But as BreakingViews.com notes, of the 66 SPACs that started up in 2007, about 40 have been liquidated or will probably end up being liquidated.

But that's probably a good thing. The sad fact is that the SPACs that actually consummated deals have fared much worse than those who sat on cash and were then forced to give the money back to investors. Aldabra 2 Acquisition Corporation, for example, has seen its stock fall more than 75 percent since it bought Boise Cascade's paper, packaging and transportation business in February 2008. 

For more:
- here's the article via the New York Times

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