SPACs are capital markets cockroaches, surviving and even thriving when most other offerings have withered.

Driving the news: April has been a very busy month for the blank-check biz, which many had forgotten about since its 2021 boom and subsequent bust.

• There have been 16 new SPAC IPO filings, including from market vets Alec Gores and Michael Klein, plus another 11 IPOs that priced.
• Nine new deSPAC transactions were announced, while Webull and two others closed.

Zoom in: The simplest narrative is that SPACs are rushing in where traditional IPO issuers fear to tread.

• Yet that doesn't entirely track. Yes, lots of expected IPO issuers hit the brakes after "Liberation Day," but it's not like they were rushing to market in 2023 or 2024 — two years in which SPAC IPO volume was relatively light.

Behind the scenes: Perhaps a larger factor is that the SPAC sponsors and investors seem to have finally worked through most of their 2021 and 2022 overhang, and are ready for new business.

• Remember, lots of institutional investors have SPAC allocations, given that it's more opportunity risk than principal risk (so long as someone's paying attention to redemption windows).
• There's also a growing belief that the valuation correction could foment new deal opportunities, and relief that some recent merger announcements have included recognizable names and sizable slabs of common stock financing.
• Finally, there are fewer worries about SEC enforcement.

Yes, but: Bulge bracket banks are mostly sitting on the sidelines.

• Nowhere is this more glaring than on Churchill Capital X, the new effort from ex-Citi dealmaker Klein.
• Citi has underwritten past Churchill IPOs, often with Wall Street peers also aboard, but this time the only listed bank is BTIG.

The bottom line: SPACs don't care what you think about them, so long as the cash keeps flowing.

Shein is exploring ways to restructure its business in response to new tariffs, including the diversion of U.S. market manufacturing to countries outside of China, per the FT.

Why it matters: This almost certainly would delay Shein's IPO on the London Stock Exchange, which has been expected to occur within months.

• First, because Shein still needs Chinese regulatory approval for the IPO, and such relocation may anger Beijing.
• Second, it could cut into investor interest by reducing U.S. sales, at least in the short term, since Shein doesn't yet have adequate supply chain infrastructure beyond China.

By the numbers: Shein was valued by VCs at $100 billion in 2022, but one year later that figure was slashed to $66 billion.

The bottom line: "Shein's executives are closely monitoring geopolitical developments and remain hopeful that negotiations between Washington and Beijing could bring tariffs down to an acceptable level." — Zijing Wu & Laura Onita, FT

• Persona, an SF-based verified identity startup, raised $200m in Series D funding at a $2b valuation. Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital co-led, joined by insiders Bond, Coatue, First Round Capital, and Index Ventures. axios.link/3YmyNM7

• Cast AI, a Miami-based Kubernetes automation platform, raised $108m in Series C funding. G2 Venture Partners and SoftBank co-led, joined by Aglaé Ventures and insiders Cota Capital, Hedosophia, Creandum, and Vintage Investment Partners. axios.link/4jZdFDT

• Canopy, a Draper, Utah, provider of accounting software, raised $70m in Series C funding. Viking Global Investors led, joined by insiders Ten Coves Capital, Ankona Capital, Pelion Venture Partners, and Tenaya Capita. axios.link/3S0XGtf

• Supio, a legal AI platform for personal injury and mass tort plaintiff law firms, raised $60m in Series B funding. Sapphire Ventures led, joined by Mayfield and Thomson Reuters Ventures. axios.link/4iJwx95

• Zoe, a New York-based platform for connecting RIAs with investors, raised $29.6m in Series B funding led by Sageview Capital. zoefinancial.com