Global Firms Raise $546 Billion in January as SPAC Frenzy Continues

U.S. dollar bills blow near the Andalusian capital of Seville in this photo illustration taken on Nov. 16, 2014. Marcelo Del Pozo/Reuters

Companies raised $546 billion from new bond and share issues in January, as a flood of central bank money-printing and recovering stock markets brought record numbers of new listings, special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deals, and share sales, Refinitiv data showed on Feb. 3.

The numbers included $106.15 billion in initial public offerings (IPOs), SPACs, and secondary offerings, with the amount of money raised by SPACs alone soaring 20 times to $24.26 billion from a year earlier, the data showed.