The special acquisition company (SPAC) segment has boomed this year, with Sir Richard Branson's latest high-profile vehicle taking the number launched in 2020 to 104 and the amount raised to a combined $40bn.

According to Preqin, the amount raised is already more than 3x the 2019 total and a far cry from the start of the latest SPAC boom in 2014, when 12 IPOs