Insights

Perspectives on capital markets, from the desk.

Newsletter editions, research and long-form commentary from Welsbach's bankers and sector specialists.

Latest from the desk

This week in capital markets.

Welsbach Monthly Newsletter

A monthly read on macro, markets and SPACs.

Each edition distils hundreds of hours of research and conversations with founders, sponsors and institutional investors into a single monthly view of the cross-border listings market.

Welsbach Monthly SPAC Insights: U.S. markets in focus - Fed funds 3.75-4.00%, August CPI 3.4%, Q2 GDP 2.2%, September payrolls 29K, 10-year yield 5.24%, 152 SPAC IPOs and $60.8 billion in trust
Edition № 1010 min read

Monthly

Welsbach Capital Markets Insights: October 2026 Edition

SPACs held 58% of U.S. IPOs with 152 priced for about $30 billion and 116 live deals worth $64.1 billion, even as the Fed hiked for the first time since 2023 and the 10-year yield hit 5.24%.

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Welsbach Monthly SPAC Insights: U.S. markets at a crossroads - S&P 500 +13% YTD, 10-year yield 4.73%, core PCE 3.3% and Fed funds at 3.50%-3.75%
Edition № 0910 min read

Monthly

Welsbach Capital Markets Insights: September 2026 Edition

SPACs held 58% of U.S. IPOs year-to-date with 147 priced for $29 billion, 377 active vehicles holding $60.6 billion in trust and 107 live deals worth $63.1 billion, while a hawkish Jackson Hole put a September Fed hike back on the table.

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Welsbach Monthly SPAC Insights: U.S. markets at a crossroads - S&P 500 +9.4% YTD, 10-year yield 4.68%, 2-year 4.33% and Brent above $100
Edition № 0810 min read

Monthly

Welsbach Capital Markets Insights: August 2026 Edition

SPACs took 59% of U.S. IPOs year-to-date and the forward book now spans 371 active vehicles with $60.1 billion in trust and 107 live deals worth $65.1 billion, even as a Red Sea oil shock pushed Brent above $100 and the 10-year to 4.68%.

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Welsbach Monthly SPAC Insights: U.S. markets in focus - Dow Jones above 53,000, S&P 500 +10.9% and Nasdaq +17.8% in Q2 2026
Edition № 0710 min read

Monthly

Welsbach Capital Markets Insights: July 2026 Edition

SPACs now account for 60% of all U.S. IPOs, with 363 active vehicles holding $57.6 billion in trust and 109 live deals worth $71.8 billion. Our monthly read on macro, markets and the de-SPAC backlog.

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Welsbach Monthly SPAC Insights: markets at a crossroads as record highs meet rising risks and the Fed turns a new page
Edition № 0610 min read

Monthly

Welsbach Capital Markets Insights: June 2026 Edition

SPACs captured 61% of all U.S. IPOs through May 2026, matching the 2021 peak, with 352 active vehicles holding $55.6 billion in trust and 107 live deals worth $69.6 billion. Our monthly read on macro, markets and SPACs.

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May 2026 macro collage: Fujairah terminal ablaze, tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and a divided Federal Reserve holding rates at 3.5% to 3.75%
Edition № 0510 min read

Monthly

Welsbach Capital Markets Insights: May 2026 Edition

SPACs captured 61% of all US IPO market share by count through April 2026, matching the 2021 peak, while a weaponized Strait of Hormuz and an 8-4 Fed split left policy frozen.

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Welsbach Weekly Archive

One idea, every week, from the deal table.

Short, opinionated reads on De-SPAC execution, PIPE financing, sponsor economics and what it takes to list a cross-border company in the U.S.

Welsbach Weekly SPAC Insights: Two Percent of the Headline. A Fifth of the Cash. 40 U.S. De-SPACs closed Jan 5 to Oct 21, 2026, $24.1M median recorded transaction cost, 11 of 40 deals with no cost recorded, 96.2% median redemptions; costs are 1.9% of deal value but 18.0% of new cash raised
Weekly8 min read

Weekly

Two Percent of the Headline. A Fifth of the Cash

What 2026's De-SPAC disclosures reveal about the cost of reaching the U.S. public markets, and what they leave out.

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Welsbach Weekly SPAC Insights: Four Doors to Nasdaq. Only One Has Your Name on It. Traditional IPO, De-SPAC, reverse takeover and direct listing, with a 2026 snapshot (58% of U.S. IPOs were SPACs, $33.1B raised by traditional IPOs in Q3, 18 vs 9 direct listings) and five questions that pick the door: capital, valuation, shareholders, readiness and execution
Weekly7 min read

Weekly

Four Doors to Nasdaq. Only One Has Your Name on It.

An IPO, De-SPAC, reverse takeover and direct listing can all lead to the same exchange, but serve different purposes. The right route depends on your company's needs, not simply which option looks best.

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Welsbach Weekly SPAC Insights: The Missing Discount - $5.18 median price for the last 20 de-SPACs versus $10, +18.4% median for the last 20 IPOs, 91.1% median redemptions
Weekly8 min read

Weekly

The Missing Discount

Every traditional IPO is priced to leave something on the table. Most de-SPACs aren't, and the market collects the discount anyway, after closing, with interest.

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Welsbach Weekly SPAC Insights: Where the hard tech goes public - space, nuclear, quantum, defense, robotics and critical minerals
Weekly8 min read

Weekly

Built for the Hard Stuff

Space, nuclear, quantum, defense, robotics, critical minerals: companies whose value sits years out are finding that the De-SPAC isn't a shortcut. For what they are, it's the right structure.

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Welsbach Weekly SPAC Insights: What U.S.-Ready actually costs - the audit, the structure, the governance and the clearances, plus the U.S.-ready playbook
Weekly7 min read

Weekly

The Translation Problem - What Makes an International Company Listable, Not Just Impressive

A great company in Singapore, Seoul or Dubai is not automatically a company Nasdaq can list. The gap is rarely the business. It's the plumbing, and it takes months no deal timeline will give you.

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Welsbach Weekly SPAC Insights: The Sponsor Is on the Clock - 270 SPACs searching with roughly $51 billion, 377 active SPACs holding $60.6 billion in trust and a 2027-2028 deadline wall
Weekly8 min read

Weekly

The Sponsor Is on the Clock

270 blank-check companies are hunting a shrinking pool of executable targets against a wall of 2027 deadlines. Right now the leverage sits with the prepared, and most founders don't use it.

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Cover of The DREAMS Protocol by Daniel Mamadou-Blanco

Thought leadership

The DREAMS Protocol: a founder's roadmap to institutional equity capital.

Written by Welsbach co-founder Daniel Mamadou-Blanco, a recognized authority on the De-SPAC merger market, the book distils more than twenty years of capital markets experience across Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Nomura into a six-step protocol for securing equity capital from SPACs and qualified institutional investors.

"Raising capital can be a smooth process and does not have to be burdensome. Still, there is a common methodology that needs to be applied within any business."
Daniel Mamadou-Blanco, Co-Founder, Welsbach - The DREAMS Protocol
Buy on Amazon

Rethink Press, 2024

SPACs & De-SPAC

Institutional capital

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