Armada Acquisition is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) — a shell company with no operations, formed solely to raise capital through an IPO and acquire a private company, taking it public in the process. Armada raised $230M in its May 2025 IPO, with proceeds held in a Trust Account. The management team then identifies and negotiates a merger with a target company, after which the target becomes publicly listed. Public shareholders can either hold shares into the combined company or redeem them for their pro rata share of the Trust Account. Armada has already announced a deal: on October 19, 2025, it entered into a Business Combination Agreement with Ripple, the blockchain-based payments company best known for the XRP token and its cross-border payments network. If the deal closes, a new holding company will list on Nasdaq, with Ripple as the operating entity. Armada has 18 months from its IPO to close a deal or must return Trust Account proceeds to shareholders and liquidate. The SPAC model creates a notable incentive misalignment: the sponsor earns a substantial "promote" — buying founder shares cheaply and converting them into far more valuable public shares upon deal close — giving the sponsor strong incentive to complete any deal, while public shareholders benefit only if the deal is a good one.