Eh, that is not the exactly the nature of the SPAC universe at all. I've seen newly formed startups become the target companies of SPACs, it has nothing to do with IPO and everything to do with collecting capital. Honestly the publicly traded aspect is a mere byproduct of a SPAC. The existence of employee-shareholders along for the ride is mere happenstance.
No one gets acquired by a SPAC unless there's an issue with an IPO. Remember WeWork? SPAC.