Saxo Bank announced the termination of its proposed merger deal on Wednesday with the blank-check firm, Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company (DCAC), that would have made the broker public.
The potential deal between Saxo and the SPAC was initially announced in mid-September. If materialized, the merged entity would be listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
“It has after careful consideration been determined that the timing is not optimal,” the official press release on the termination of the announcement stated.
Headquartered in Denmark, Saxo is a major player in the forex trading industry, providing services to retail and professional traders. The purpose of the now-failed merger deal was to diversify its shareholder base. Further, it would have raised the company’s profile and accelerated its growth strategies.
The broker is already well-capitalized, and there would be no primary issue of shares with the listing. However, Geely Financials Denmark A/S and Sampo Plc, two existing Saxo shareholders, considered liquidating their holdings, while a few Board Members and some of the senior management at Saxo, including the CEO Fournais, intended to raise their stake.
The End of SPAC Deals?
Saxo’s SPAC partner, DCAC, listed itself on Euronext Amsterdam last October, raising £125 million. If its merger had materialized, DCAC shareholders would have received Saxo shares with the subsequent delisting and liquidation of SPAC.
“DCAC is contemplating its options, taking into account its business combination deadline of 11 January 2023, subject to potential extension,” the press release added.
Saxo is not the only financial services broker to terminate its public listing plans following a SPAC deal. eToro, which is a prominent name in the retail trading space, terminated its ambitions of going public on a United States stock exchange. eToro agreed to a merger deal with Betsy Cohen’s blank-check company, but the two could not seal the deal before the deadline.
