SPAC Wipeout Spurs Top Sponsors to Pull IPOs at Record Clip

Some of the blank-check world’s shrewdest sponsors are pulling new offerings amid miserable returns for the sector and mounting signs of investor exhaustion.

Dealmakers aborted at least 14 planned listings this month alone for so-called special-purpose acquisition companies that were looking to raise a combined $4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Both figures are records for the once red-hot asset class.

“Even among the higher-caliber people, too much money has already been raised,” said Greg Martin, managing director and co-founder of Rainmaker Securities. “The SPAC craze is over; I think we’re going to have a tremendous ...