EToro SPAC Deal for Public Listing Canceled as Transaction Becomes 'Impracticable'
The decision was taken mutually with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V.
Jul 5, 2022 at 1:49 p.m. UTCUpdated Apr 9, 2024 at 11:21 p.m. UTC
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Trading platform eToro's planned public listing through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) FinTech Acquisition Corp. V has been terminated, the firms announced Tuesday.
- The closing conditions agreed upon when the merger was proposed in March last year have not been met, the companies said.
- When first agreed, the merger was set to form a combined entity worth $10.4 billion, reflecting an implied enterprise value for eToro of about $9.6 billion.
- According to Betsy Cohen, chairman of Fintech V, "The transaction has been rendered impracticable due to circumstances outside of either party's control."
- As the decision was taken mutually, neither party is required to pay a termination fee.
- While SPAC deals have been a popular way for crypto companies to access public stock markets in recent years, their attraction has cooled during the downturn in the crypto markets. Media outlet Forbes had planned to go public through a $630 million SPAC deal with Hong Kong-based Magnum Opus Acquisition Ltd. (OPA), but this was scrapped in late May.
- "While this may not be the outcome that we hoped for when we started this process, eToro’s underlying business remains healthy, our balance sheet is strong and will continue to balance future growth with profitability," eToro CEO Yoni Assia said in the statement.
- Peter Stoneberg, managing director at M&A firm Architect Partners, told CoinDesk: “SPACs overall have been very volatile and on a downward trajectory.”
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UPDATE (14:30 UTC July 5 2022): Adds bullet with prospective value of combined entity when first agreed
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Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.