Bitcoin Depot to list in the U.S. through $885 mln SPAC deal (updated)

Bitcoin Depot

25/08/2022 12:49

(Adds financial details)
    Aug 25 (Reuters) - Fintech Bitcoin Depot plans to list in
the United States by merging with blank check company GSR II
Meteora Acquisition Corp  GSRM.N  in a deal valued at $885
million, the companies said on Thursday. 
    The transaction will raise up to $321 million of cash held
in GSRM's trust account and will be used to support Bitcoin
Depot's working capital, complete acquisitions and scale its
platform and suite of products.
    Assuming no redemptions, the combined company will be valued
at $755 million, including debt, with an equity value of $885
million and up to $170 million in cash proceeds from the deal,
according to a statement.
    Bitcoin Depot, founded in 2016, is a bitcoin ATM operator in
North America that enables users to convert their cash into
bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin at more than 7,000 kiosk
locations in 47 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces. 
    Special purpose acquisition company GSRM, which raised $316
million in an initial public offering in March this year, is
pushing ahead with the deal at a time when few are. https://bwnews.pr/3CxbAfY
    A SPAC is a listed firm with no business operations but a
pool of capital that it uses to merge with a private company.
The deal then takes the private company public.
    High rates of shareholder redemptions and regulatory
concerns have dissuaded companies seeking to go public through
the SPAC route stifling dealmaking in the sector which took wall
Street by storm in the past two years.
    Among companies that have recently scrapped their agreements
to go public via SPACs include telecom services firm Syniverse
Technologies, 3D printing firm Essentium Inc and travel
technology platform HotelPlanner.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2UP3G5 
    The deal, expected to close by the first quarter of next
year, is being advised by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. The combined
company will list on Nasdaq under the symbol 'BTM'.

 (Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
 ((Mehnaz.Yasmin@thomsonreuters.com;))