Explainer
SPV
Special Purpose Vehicle
A separate legal entity set up to hold a single investment on behalf of many investors.
An SPV is a small company created for one purpose, such as holding shares in a single private business. Investors buy into the SPV, and the SPV owns the shares.
This lets a group of investors pool money to access a deal that would be too large or too complicated for each to do alone, and keeps the company's own cap table simpler.
SPVs often add fees and layers. The investors own a stake in the vehicle, not the shares directly, so the terms of the SPV matter.
Illustrative explainers. Figures in examples are hypothetical.