Jay Heller
At Nasdaq, Jay Heller is senior member of the Capital Markets Team. With over 25 years’ experience in the financial markets arena, Jay was tasked by senior management to lead a team in analyzing and enhancing the process in which new listings are facilitated on the exchange. Over the years, Nasdaq has introduced several innovative tools, leveraging data and technology to provide greater transparency for IPOs and Direct Listings. Under his leadership, the team has executed more than 2,300 IPOs, consisting of operating companies and SPAC’s. Some of the world’s most innovative companies have gone public on Nasdaq during his tenure including: Rivian, Mobileye, Coinbase, Lyft, TPG, Warner Music, Airbnb and GlobalFoundries, just to name a few. Prior to joining the Nasdaq in 2008, Jay was the Managing Director of Institutional Trading and Sales at American Capital Partners. There he was a partner on the Institutional Trading and Sales Desk, while working with various hedge funds and financial institutions. Jay also has worked as a market marker at Pershing Capital Markets and NDB Capital Markets, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank.
Topic
June 18, 2025 June 18, 2025
The SPAC Advantage as an “Alternative IPO” Technique
- Faster to public market than traditional underwritten IPOs
- Ability to share forecasts with investors (with resulting potential for higher valuation)
- Satisfying public company governance standards, including board composition and reporting structures
- Reduced market volatility risks – SPAC mergers have a fixed valuation, offering more stability in unpredictable markets
- Flexibility in deal structures – custom deal terms such as earnouts and PIPE financing, to attract high-potential private companies into going public
- Lower barrier to IPO – SPACs help bypass a lengthy and costly traditional IPO process
- Attractive to institutional investors that may not typically invest in smaller, underserved market segments
- Less dependence on underwriting – how companies in overlooked sectors can bypass the challenges of securing traditional IPO underwriters
