>>28562927
There is a period of time before the ticker changes but after the merger was voted on, in that period of time it still traders under the SPAC ticker and the merger hasn't really happened yet, but it would be a mistake to buy in, especially if the price is low.
There is no problem with a merger blowing up because you must be paid back at 10 + interest in that case, and this is handled by the SPAC's backers if the SPAC itself refuses to pay back (which would be highly criminal, it's not a case of 'bankruptcy' or whatever because the money is supposed to go 100% toward merging with a target, it isn't used in any way whatsoever for SPAC activities themselves, or to pay the SPAC team).