Circle gave up on its plans to go public after its SPAC merger with Concord Acquisition Corp. fell through. Both companies did not say why they decided to end their partnership.
Circle, the company behind the stablecoin USDC, has reportedly given up on plans to go public after canceling its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transaction with Concord Acquisition Corp.
The two companies decided not to move forward with a plan to merge their businesses, which would have made way for an IPO.
Reports say that after thinking about it, the boards of both Circle and Concord decided not to go public through the SPAC.
Circle was rumored to have planned to go public through the SPAC, but it is still not clear why the two companies decided to scrap the plans.
The stablecoin issuer put out a press release about the end of the merger and said that the decision to end it was made after “careful review and approval by both boards of directors.”
Circle’s CEO, Jeremy Allaire, said in a tweet that the company has been doing “strongly” since the merger was announced, and that it has already seen “positive momentum” in Q3 2022, when it made an estimated $274 million in total sales and $43 million in net income. The document also said again that it had nearly $400 million in cash that could be used for anything.
Circle and Concord said at first that they would merge into a SPAC in July 2021. In the meantime, the agreement was renegotiated in February of this year, and Circle’s value went from $4.5 billion to $9 billion.
A SPAC or special purpose acquisition company is a firm created for the sole purpose of forming a merger, expanding a business partnership, or asset reorganization.
Despite canceling the SPAC transaction, the USDC issuer said it would continue exploring other avenues for becoming a publicly-traded company. The company also noted its commitment to “building the infrastructure and services to enable the global cryptocurrency economy.”
Circle announced in April that it had received $400 million in funding from BlackRock, Fidelity, Fin Capital, and Marshal Wace LLP. The Series E round valued the company at $3 billion.
