With its plan to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) FinTech Acquisition Corp V in trouble, Retail FX broker eToro has filed with US regulators updated plans that indicate it has renegotiated some aspects of the merger agreement – including a much lower valuation for eToro.
While the original deal announced in March 2021 was for eToro to be valued post-deal at about $10.4 billion, the new agreement lowers eToro’s valuation to $7.9 billion pre-deal, and $8.8 billion post IPO. Or, about 15% lower than originally planned.
The amended agreement also extends the allowed timetable for deal closing by six months from today, December 31, to June 30, 2022. One of the key conditions for the deal to close is for eToro’s registration statement on Form F-4 be declared effective by US regulators, and that hasn’t happened yet.
The lower valuation for eToro comes despite a fairly strong Q4, which the company pre-announced last week. However eToro’s main comparable that stock market investors will likely look to, Robinhood (NASDSAQ:HOOD), has seen its shares fall by about 75% since peaking at above $70 soon after its July IPO to below $20 today.