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Underwriters' counsel · 3rd in 2026Ranked by number of IPOs · named in each prospectus

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

78SPAC IPOs as underwriters' counsel since 2021 · $26.3B raised · 3rd of all firms

Tavia Read

  1. 01

    A top-three underwriters' counsel in 3 years.

    It ranked in the top three in 2021, 2022, 2026; its best was 3rd in 2021.

  2. 02

    Its busiest year was 2021.

    56 SPAC IPOs as underwriters' counsel, ranking 3rd that year.

From the snapshot 14 league tables · worked out, not estimated

Underwriters' counsel, year by year

YearRankSPAC IPOsIPO proceeds
2026 to date3 of 2511$2.2B
202510 of 254$1.1B
202411 of 211$258M
20239 of 181$345M
20223 of 255$1.6B
20213 of 2556$20.8B
2021 to date3 of 2578$26.3B

Company counsel, year by year

YearRankSPAC IPOsIPO proceeds
2026 to dateNot in top 25——
202515 of 252$690M
2024Not in top 25——
2023Not in top 25——
202212 of 252$345M
20216 of 2525$6.5B
2021 to date9 of 2529$7.5B

Its SPACs

107 SPAC IPOs since 2021 name Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in the prospectus. Open one for its terms, votes and sources.

SPACIPORaisedRoleStatus
TCGX Acquisition Corp. IIOct 2026$100MUnderwriters' counselSearching
Live Oak Acquisition Corp. VISept 2026$230MUnderwriters' counselSearching
JATT III Acquisition CorpAug 2026$69MUnderwriters' counselSearching
RMG ML Sports HoldingsJun 2026$217MUnderwriters' counselSearching
Long Table Growth Corp.Jun 2026$173MUnderwriters' counselSearching
CH4 Natural Solutions CorpApr 2026$220MUnderwriters' counselSearching
General Catalyst Global Resilience Merger Corp.Apr 2026$403MUnderwriters' counselSearching
West Enclave Merger Corp.Apr 2026$115MUnderwriters' counselSearching
JATT II Acquisition Corp.Apr 2026$60MUnderwriters' counselDeal announced
Averin Capital Acquisition Corp.Feb 2026$284MUnderwriters' counselSearching
All 107 SPACs

How its SPACs turned out

Figures
IPO yearSPACsMerger completedDeal announcedSearchingLiquidatedUnder review
20218128 (35%)5 (6%)4 (5%)44 (54%)0 (0%)
202272 (29%)1 (14%)1 (14%)3 (43%)0 (0%)
202310 (0%)0 (0%)0 (0%)1 (100%)0 (0%)
202410 (0%)1 (100%)0 (0%)0 (0%)0 (0%)
202561 (17%)0 (0%)5 (83%)0 (0%)0 (0%)
2026 to date110 (0%)1 (9%)10 (91%)0 (0%)0 (0%)

Works most often with

Auditors

  1. WithumSmith+Brown, PC51 SPACs
  2. Marcum LLP44 SPACs
  3. BDO USA, LLP6 SPACs
How the figures are compiled
  • Which IPOs. Every final IPO prospectus (Form 424B4 or 424B1, or a 424B3 when it is the first prospectus filed on an S-1 or F-1 registration within 10 days of it going effective) filed on SEC EDGAR from the history start, by a registrant whose SIC code was 6770 (blank checks) on the filing date. Offerings that are not exchange-listed SPAC IPOs are excluded when the prospectus is read. The window starts on 1 January 2021.
  • Dated by. The date of the final prospectus.
  • Raised. Units sold to the public, including over-allotment units, times the unit price, as stated in the SPAC's 8-K reports after the IPO.
  • Trust. The trust held for public shareholders after the IPO and any over-allotment: trust per unit times public units, as stated in the SPAC's filings. Cash deposited in trust and then moved out as working capital is not counted.
  • Bookrunners. Firms the prospectus names as book-running managers; where it names none, the firm it names as sole underwriter or representative of the underwriters. Only the prospectus's own wording counts, not later 8-K reports. Each IPO's gross proceeds are split equally among its bookrunners.
  • Counsel and auditors. Issuer counsel and underwriters' counsel as named in the prospectus's Legal Matters section; the auditor as named in its Experts section. Each is credited with the IPO's full gross proceeds.
  • Unit structure. What one unit consists of, as the prospectus states it: a share with warrants, with rights, with both, or a share alone (shares-only offerings sell no units). Warrants per unit is the fraction of a warrant in each unit; rights are measured as the fraction of a share they convert into per unit.
  • Trust per unit. Dollars placed in the trust account for each unit sold to the public, as the prospectus states it.
  • Time to complete. Months from the IPO closing that the SPAC has to complete its business combination before any extension, as the prospectus states it.
  • Over-allotment. Whether the underwriters bought all, part or none of the over-allotment option, comparing units sold with the base offering and the option.
  • Votes. Shareholder votes to extend a SPAC's deadline or to approve its business combination, as reported in its 8-Ks (Item 5.07), for the SPACs in the IPO statistics only: SPACs that priced before the history start are not included, so votes in the first years under-represent the market. Only redemptions actually paid count: votes on a proposal that failed, or an extension that was approved but never took effect, are left out (redemption requests lapse with them), and a merger vote counts only when the deal closed, and only the last merger vote before the closing, since merger redemptions are paid at closing. Liquidation votes are left out too, as every public share is redeemed by definition.
  • Redemption rate. Public shares redeemed at a vote over public shares outstanding just before it. Shares redeemed are as an 8-K, or failing that the next 10-Q or 10-K, states them. Shares before are as a filing states them, or redeemed plus the shares left after, or carried from the IPO's public shares and earlier votes. The median is the typical vote; the weighted rate divides all shares redeemed by all shares before, the share of public money that left the trusts. A vote counts only when each of these figures is verified or accepted. Votes whose redemption count no filing states, after a search of the SPAC's and the combined company's filings, are counted as not disclosed rather than estimated.
  • Outcomes. Where each SPAC stands as of the snapshot: completed (business combination closed), liquidated (trust returned and redeemed), deal pending (agreement signed, not closed) or searching (no agreement in force). Grouped by the year the SPAC priced its IPO. Awaiting review means its status is still being checked.
  • Closings. Completed business combinations by year of closing. The sector is the SEC's industry code (SIC) of the combined company, grouped into broad sectors; months from IPO run from the prospectus date to the closing.
  • Checking. A SPAC counts only when every required figure is verified (quote found verbatim in the filing and all cross-checks pass) or accepted by a named reviewer.
  • Coverage. 1,077 of the 1,089 SPAC IPOs read are counted; 12 wait on a figure still under review and 11 filings were excluded as not exchange-listed SPAC IPOs.

Compiled from SEC filings with the assistance of AI · figures as of 3 November 2026

For information only. These figures are compiled from SEC filings with the assistance of AI. Although they are checked against those filings, they may contain errors or omissions and have not been audited; where they differ from the filings, the filings prevail. They are not an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security. Information about any SPAC is qualified in its entirety by its filings with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov.