eToro Misses Deadline to Close SPAC Deal for Nasdaq Listing

by Arnab Shome
  • The deadline to close the deal was on June 30.
  • There is still no official confirmation of the deal's collapse.
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Israel-headquartered broker, eToro has likely abandoned its merger with the blank-check firm, FinTech Acquisition Corp V (Nasdaq: FTCV), as it crossed the deadline of June 30 for sealing the deal.

Additionally, the Information cited an anonymous source to report on Thursday that the broker is planning to abandon the deal. Finance Magnates reached out to eToro for official confirmation as a spokesperson said: "We will be sharing an update in the coming days."

A Broken Dream of Public Listing?

eToro, which has made its name with copy trading services, is a popular retail trading platform with a global presence. In addition, it became popular by offering cryptocurrency services. The number of active customers on the platform doubled in 2021 to 2.4 million.

The broker confirmed its deal with the Betsy Cohen-backed blank-check company in March 2021 that would allow it to list on the American stock exchange, Nasdaq. It initially missed its 2021 deadline to complete the merger, which was then extended to June 30, 2022.

Further, the slowdown in retail trading demand from the pandemic-induced peak impacted the valuation of brokers, including eToro. Initially, the valuation of the merged eToro and SPAC was determined to be $10.4 billion, putting the implied enterprise value for eToro at $9.6 billion. However, the SPAC partner later confirmed a cut of more than 15 percent in the valuation of the broker to $8.8 billion.

In May, an Israeli media company reported that eToro is considering raising between $800 million and $1 billion in a private equity round before its public listing. The funding is said to be coming at a valuation of around $5 billion and $6 billion, which is much less than the estimated valuation for the SPAC merger.

However, eToro at that time declined to confirm the funding or the valuation cut, calling it “market rumors.”

Israel-headquartered broker, eToro has likely abandoned its merger with the blank-check firm, FinTech Acquisition Corp V (Nasdaq: FTCV), as it crossed the deadline of June 30 for sealing the deal.

Additionally, the Information cited an anonymous source to report on Thursday that the broker is planning to abandon the deal. Finance Magnates reached out to eToro for official confirmation as a spokesperson said: "We will be sharing an update in the coming days."

A Broken Dream of Public Listing?

eToro, which has made its name with copy trading services, is a popular retail trading platform with a global presence. In addition, it became popular by offering cryptocurrency services. The number of active customers on the platform doubled in 2021 to 2.4 million.

The broker confirmed its deal with the Betsy Cohen-backed blank-check company in March 2021 that would allow it to list on the American stock exchange, Nasdaq. It initially missed its 2021 deadline to complete the merger, which was then extended to June 30, 2022.

Further, the slowdown in retail trading demand from the pandemic-induced peak impacted the valuation of brokers, including eToro. Initially, the valuation of the merged eToro and SPAC was determined to be $10.4 billion, putting the implied enterprise value for eToro at $9.6 billion. However, the SPAC partner later confirmed a cut of more than 15 percent in the valuation of the broker to $8.8 billion.

In May, an Israeli media company reported that eToro is considering raising between $800 million and $1 billion in a private equity round before its public listing. The funding is said to be coming at a valuation of around $5 billion and $6 billion, which is much less than the estimated valuation for the SPAC merger.

However, eToro at that time declined to confirm the funding or the valuation cut, calling it “market rumors.”

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