Underwriters' counselRanked by number of IPOs · named in each prospectus
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
3years in the underwriters' counsel top 25 since 2021
Tavia Read
- 01
Its best year in the table was 2023.
It ranked 15th of 18 underwriters' counsel that year, on 1 SPAC IPOs.
- 02
Its busiest year was 2022.
1 SPAC IPOs as underwriters' counsel, ranking 25th that year.
- 03
Outside the top 25 in 3 years.
The tables keep each year’s 25 leading firms; 2021, 2025, 2026 are below that line.
From the snapshot 14 league tables · worked out, not estimated
Year by year
| Year | Rank | SPAC IPOs | IPO proceeds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 to date | Not in top 25 | — | — |
| 2025 | Not in top 25 | — | — |
| 2024 | 17 of 21 | 1 | $69M |
| 2023 | 15 of 18 | 1 | $69M |
| 2022 | 25 of 25 | 1 | $115M |
| 2021 | Not in top 25 | — | — |
Its SPACs
7 SPAC IPOs since 2021 name Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in the prospectus. Open one for its terms, votes and sources.
| SPAC | IPO | Raised | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flag Ship Acquisition Corp | Jun 2024 | $69M | Underwriters' counsel | Deal announced |
| Golden Star Acquisition Corp | May 2023 | $69M | Underwriters' counsel | Completed |
| Qomolangma Acquisition Corp. | Sept 2022 | $52.7M | Company counsel | Liquidated |
| Metal Sky Star Acquisition Corp | Mar 2022 | $115M | Underwriters' counsel | Liquidated |
| Alpha Star Acquisition Corp | Dec 2021 | $115M | Underwriters' counsel | Deal announced |
| Golden Path Acquisition Corp | Jun 2021 | $57.5M | Underwriters' counsel | Completed |
| Venus Acquisition Corp | Feb 2021 | $46M | Underwriters' counsel | Completed |
How its SPACs turned out
Figures
| IPO year | SPACs | Merger completed | Deal announced | Searching | Liquidated | Under review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3 | 2 (67%) | 1 (33%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| 2023 | 1 | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 (0%) | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
Works most often with
Bookrunners
Company counsel
- Becker & Poliakoff LLP6 SPACs
Underwriters' counsel
Auditors
- UHY LLP3 SPACs
- Friedman LLP3 SPACs
- Marcum Asia CPAs LLP1 SPAC
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.