Softbank-backed mortgage lender Better plunges 95% in dismal debut

Better Home & Finance Holding

24/08/2023 16:52

(Changes headline, updates stock activity, recasts throughout)
    ** Shares of digital mortgage lender Better Home & Finance
 BETR.O  plunge ~95% to 77 cents in debut after long-delayed
SPAC merger
    ** BETR down 92.8% at $1.25 on trading volume of 27,794,176
shares as of 11:50 a.m. EDT
    ** The deal will provide Better with $550 mln infusion from
SoftBank   9984.T , which Better will use to expand its mortgage
product offerings ahead of anticipated boom in demand for
refinancings next year, when rates are expected to start
falling, co execs said
    ** Better planned to go public in 2021, but the merger with
special-purpose acquisition company Aurora Acquisition (AURC)
was delayed amid US SEC inquiry and multiple rounds of layoffs,
per regulatory filings
    ** In the interim, roughly 95% of AURC shareholders redeemed
their holdings, leaving the trust account with just about $24
mln at end-Jun, down from about $283 mln. AURC went public in
Mar 2021
    ** A thin public float of shares makes Better prone to
volatility
    ** Better's listing comes as mortgage rates continue to
soar, with the 30-year fixed rate last week hitting highest
levels since 2000, helping drive mortgage applications to a
28-year low, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Weds

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))