Billionaire plans liquidation of trio of Boulder-based SPACs without merger deals

BOULDER — Special purpose acquisition companies have one, well, special purpose, and that’s to merge with a privately held company and take it public. 

But sometimes those merger deals simply don’t materialize, and SPACs must liquidate. That’s exactly what’s happening with a trio of private-equity billionaire Alec Gore’s Boulder-based SPACs, which, failing to find dance partners, plan to return about $1.3 billion to investors before the end of the year. 

A SPAC is a publicly traded shell company with a built-in two-year lifespan that represents an alternative to the traditional initial public offering process. When a SPAC, often…