(Bloomberg) — Webull’s efforts to list in the U.S. come as the company prepares to go public by merging with Blank, Inc. The company’s U.S. CEO says it will offer cryptocurrencies to its users. It was said that this was hindered by the online brokerage company that provided the transaction. Check the vehicle.
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The online brokerage platform has agreed to a deal with SK Growth Opportunities Corp. that gives the combined company an estimated enterprise value of approximately $7.3 billion, the companies announced Wednesday. Anthony Denier, group president and U.S. CEO, said the Nasdaq listing would occur after several attempts through an initial public offering, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. .
“We failed for a variety of reasons,” Denier told Bloomberg News. “I could name a few, but I think the most recent one is the cryptocurrency exposure. It's widely known that the SEC has not been friendly.”
Webull, whose founder Wang Anquan is a veteran of Chinese tech giants Alibaba Group Holding and Xiaomi, launched cryptocurrencies on its platform in 2020 as it was gaining market share from rivals such as Robinhood Markets. Started trading.
Read more: Robinhood loses thousands of traders to Chinese-backed rival
Webull sold its digital assets business at the end of the third quarter and removed crypto products from its platform globally, Denier said. He said the decision to remove crypto trading from the platform was also motivated by regulatory uncertainty regarding how the SEC wants registered broker-dealers to operate in the crypto space.
A representative for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it does not comment on individual companies.
Webull has 20 million registered users, operates in 15 regions around the world, and has a total notional value of $370 billion, according to a statement. The company has signed a deal to become the official basketball jersey patch partner of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets in 2021 and be featured on the jerseys of the WNBA's New York Liberty.
Prior evaluation
There are other reasons why merging with a blank check company is attractive to Webull.
Unlike traditional IPOs, in a SPAC transaction, “you can come to an agreement with the SPAC for an upfront valuation as opposed to a valuation at the end of the process,” Denier said.
SK Growth Opportunities CEO Richard Chin is a former president of South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix, and the special acquisition company's board also includes former Speaker of the House John Boehner. The blank check company raised about $210 million in an IPO in 2022.
The SPAC partnership with SK Growth Opportunities is expected to generate up to $100 million in proceeds, subject to redemption. More than half of SK Growth shares were redeemed in December.
Following the announcement, the SPAC's stock price rose as much as 6% in New York on Wednesday, trading as high as $11.49 per share.
The company has about $565 million in cash on its balance sheet, indicating that Webull is less cash-strapped than many so-called exit-SPACs that have deteriorated or gone bankrupt.
Denier said he aims to begin trading the shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the second half of 2024. As it stands, the acquisition must be completed by the end of September, unless the SPAC gets a second extension from shareholders. .
–With assistance from Austin Weinstein.
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