Circle Nixes SPAC האַנדלען מיט קאָנקאָרד, נאָך נורסעס אַמביציע פֿאַר פּובליק ליסטינג

Fintech company and USDC issuer Circle has terminated a business combination deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition Corp., but it has not scrapped its plan to go public.

Circle’s announcement is the latest in the growing list of SPAC deals that have failed to materialize.

Circle and Concord Go Separate Ways

Circle announced the termination of the deal in a דריקן מעלדונג on Monday (December 5, 2022). The decision was mutual between both parties, with the termination approved by Circle’s and Concord’s boards of directors.

The business combination proposal was first announced in July 2021 when Circle was valued at $4.5 billion. The deal was later אַמענדיד in February 2022 when the firm’s valuation doubled to $9 billion, with the USDC issuer looking to go public by December 2022.

Although the deal has fallen through, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said the firm still has plans to be a public company. The exec added:

"קאָנקאָרד איז געווען אַ שטאַרק שוטעף און האט צוגעלייגט ווערט איבער דעם פּראָצעס, און מיר וועלן פאָרזעצן צו נוץ פון די עצה און שטיצן פון באָב דיאַמאָנד און די ברייטערער קאָנקאָרד מאַנשאַפֿט. מיר זענען דיסאַפּויניד די פארגעלייגט טראַנסאַקטיאָן טיימד אויס, אָבער, צו ווערן אַ ציבור פירמע בלייבט טייל פון סירקלע ס האַרץ סטראַטעגיע צו פאַרבעסערן צוטרוי און דורכזעיקייַט, וואָס איז קיינמאָל געווען מער וויכטיק.

Concord had until December 10, 2022, to complete the business combination, with an option for extension till the end of January 2023 via a shareholder vote, if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “declared the S-4 registration statement for the business combination effective.” However, at the time of the press release, the SEC has made no such declaration.

Meanwhile, Circle outlined its performance in Q3 2022, stating a revenue of $274 million, $43 million in net income, and unrestricted cash worth $400 million.

SPAC Deals Failing Recently

The latest development reflects the recent failures in merger and acquisition deals. As previously געמאלדן by קריפּטאָפּאָטאַטאָ, Fintech Acquisition Corp ended its merger agreement with crypto exchange eToro.

Another SPAC, 10x Capital Venture Acquisition Corp, also terminated a $1.25 billion merger deal with crypto mining company Prime Blockchain. The decision was mutual between both companies.

The crypto SPAC is part of the general failures in blank check deals in the broader financial sector. לויט to Bloomberg, over 40 SPAC deals have been canceled as of August 2022.