SPACs Fuel Public Listings for Data-Center Boom

Betsy Cohen, co-founder of Cohen Circle LLC, said on Bloomberg TV's weekly deals show that blank-check companies are again serving as a path to public markets for startups tied to the AI data-center build-out, according to Bloomberg reporting republished in full by Insurance Journal. Cohen said companies with heavy, continuing capital needs, including data centers, nuclear power, and quantum computing, increasingly view SPACs as an alternative to traditional IPOs. SPAC Research data cited by both outlets show deal volume swung from an all-time high of 199 mergers in 2021 to just 43 in 2025, with 20 completed and 110 pending so far in 2026.

Anna Pinedo, a partner at Mayer Brown, said SEC regulatory changes will benefit SPAC transactions. Christine McNerney, a portfolio manager at Periscope Capital, told Bloomberg that sponsors and investors are more disciplined than in 2021: "We really learned in 2021 that credibility matters much more than hype, so I think the SPAC market is at a healthy point right now and this is probably a good level for it to stay at."

Cohen Circle's own track record complicates the AI-data-center framing. Per Crypto Briefing's review of the firm's history, Cohen has sponsored at least nine SPACs and taken seven public since 2015, raising over $5 billion, but that activity has concentrated in fintech, and its most recent filing, Cohen Circle Acquisition Corp. II, targeting up to $220 million, still lists a fintech focus rather than AI infrastructure. Public commentary about a financing trend and a committed deal pipeline are different signals worth separating when tracking how AI buildouts get funded.

Whether Cohen Circle or peer sponsors actually file an AI-data-center-focused SPAC, the SEC guidance changes Pinedo referenced, and SPAC Research's quarterly deal-volume and PIPE-commitment data as leading indicators of whether the 2026 rebound holds or fades the way the 2021 boom did.