A SPAC doesn't IPO plain shares — it sells units at $10.00. A unit is a small bundle: one share of common stock, plus (usually) a fraction of a warrant, a fraction of a right, or occasionally both or neither. The extra pieces are the sweetener that gets the IPO sold; understanding them is how you avoid paying for things that can expire worthless.
The three components
The share is the only part with a claim on the trust account. It can be redeemed for its slice of the trust — roughly $10 plus accrued interest — at each redemption event, which is what gives it a floor.
A warrant is an option to buy one more share after the merger closes, almost always at an $11.50 strike, exercisable for five years from closing. Until a deal closes it cannot be exercised at all. Warrants are long-dated calls on the deal being good: worth zero in a liquidation, potentially worth multiples of their price if the merged company trades well above $11.50. Standard fine print worth knowing: if the post-merger stock trades above $18 for a sustained stretch, the company can force ("call") the warrants for a token price, which in practice compels early exercise and caps the dream scenario.
A right converts automatically into a fixed fraction of a share when a deal closes — no strike, no action, nothing to pay. One-tenth is the classic fraction: hold ten rights, receive one share at closing. Like warrants, rights die worthless at liquidation. Unlike warrants, they pay off in any completed deal, even one that closes weak — which makes them a purer bet on deal completion.
Real structures, from the prospectuses
These are actual unit structures our pipeline parsed from SEC IPO filings (the accession number identifies the exact document):
| SPAC | Unit includes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CCXI | 1 whole warrant | 424B4, 0001213900-25-122808 |
| MTNE | 1/2 warrant | 424B4, 0001193125-26-202944 |
| CCCT | 1/3 warrant | 424B4, 0001185185-26-002864 |
| GHXI | 1/4 warrant | 424B4, 0001193125-26-279710 |
| SOUL | 1/10 right | 424B4, 0001641172-25-002529 |
| CTAA | 1/5 right | 424B4, 0001493152-26-007998 |
| GLED | 1/4 right | 424B4, 0001829126-26-001986 |
The fraction is a demand signal. A sponsor who can sell units with only a quarter-warrant is giving less away than one who must attach a whole warrant — richer sweeteners generally mean the IPO was harder to place. Browse the live lists with every fraction: SPACs with rights and SPACs with warrants.
When units split
Units trade whole for about 52 days after the IPO, then the components separate under their own tickers — share, warrant and right each with its own price and its own market. (The date is in each prospectus; 52 days is the convention.) After separation you can hold or trade any piece alone.
What each piece is worth — the scenario table
| Scenario | Share | Warrant | Right |
|---|---|---|---|
| You redeem at a vote | Trust value in cash (~$10+) | You keep it | You keep it |
| Deal closes, stock at $8 | Market price | Near zero (strike $11.50 far away) | ~$0.80 per 1/10 right |
| Deal closes, stock at $15 | Market price | ~$3.50 intrinsic + time value | ~$1.50 per 1/10 right |
| Liquidation | Trust value in cash | $0 | $0 |
Two practical consequences follow. First, a unit near $10.00 with a rich sweetener can be cheap: you're paying trust value for the share and getting the warrant or right almost free — but only if you respect the redemption calendar, because the share's floor has an expiry date (see how redemption works).
Second, sweeteners are dilution in waiting. Every warrant exercised and every right converted adds shares to the post-merger company, which is part of why a deal's headline valuation understates the real one — the arithmetic is in dilution: headline vs effective valuation.
Sizing up a unit in 30 seconds
- Find the structure (our lists above, or the prospectus front page).
- Value the share at trust — verify with how to compute NAV.
- Whatever you paid above trust is the price of the sweetener. Ask: is a fraction of a maybe-someday option worth that? Often the honest answer is no — and occasionally the unit trades below trust and the answer is obviously yes.
Terms you'll meet along the way — 424B4, strike, tender — are all in the SPAC glossary.