Aug 19 (Reuters) - Chamath Palihapitiya, dubbed Wall

Street's "SPAC king" for his high-profile blank-check deals, is

set to take his latest special purpose acquisition vehicle

public, marking his return to the market after several years.

American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp, chaired by the

venture investor who became the face of the original SPAC mania,

is looking to raise up to $250 million in an initial public

offering, a filing showed late on Monday.

"I believe the biggest gains in the future will come from

companies that are involved in fixing the fundamental risks that

come from our interconnected global order while reinforcing

American exceptionalism," Palihapitiya wrote in a letter to

investors.

A SPAC is a shell firm that raises money through an IPO to

merge with a private business and take it public, offering

companies an alternative route to the market that bypasses the

longer and more costly traditional IPO process.

American Exceptionalism will target companies in AI, energy,

decentralized finance, and defense - the sectors currently

attracting the largest shares of venture funding.

The broader SPAC market has experienced renewed momentum

in recent months. In August alone, 17 blank-check companies have

filed for IPOs, surpassing July's total of 12, according to SPAC

Research.

Separately on Tuesday, Betsy Cohen, another industry

veteran, filed for a new blank-check company targeting a merger

with a bitcoin-focused crypto startup.

Under Brandon Lutnick - the son of U.S. Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick - financial services giant Cantor

Fitzgerald has also leaned on such deals this year.

SPAC mergers hit record levels in 2020 and 2021, with

several Wall Street heavyweights - including billionaire

investors Bill Ackman and Michael Klein - betting on them as the

next big trend in listings.

However, activity slowed sharply in subsequent years as

regulatory scrutiny increased and investors soured on the

once-popular vehicle.

Many SPACs failed to secure targets, while others completed

deals with heavy redemptions or saw shares plunge after debut.