The alternative IPO trend continues as German firm EnOcean announces its intention to implement a reverse merger with a SPAC to take them public early next year. Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have proved a popular route for companies to list on the stock market without the rigmarole of a traditional IPO process. However, more often than not, smart buildings companies using these reverse mergers have either failed to complete their proposed deals or struggled since completing it. “The smart buildings market might not be ready for SPAC success. Whether it is because of the type of investors and business plans, or just the growth rate and maturity of the market, there seems to be a pattern forming for smart building SPACs. The SPAC route to IPO may also be attracting the smart building industry’s most ambitious and impatient companies, many of those companies might not be ready for the challenges of being publicly listed,” […]