The Circle-Concord business combination will result in the formation of a new company that intends to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Circle, the operator of the USD Coin (USDC), has seen its valuation more than double to $9 billion after revising its merger agreement with Concord Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) founded in 2020.
Circle announced on Thursday that it had terminated its previous business combination terms with Concord and reached a new agreement, which is expected to be finalized by December 8, 2022, with the option of being extended until January 31, 2023. According to media reports, Circle and Concord first announced their intention to merge in July 2022.
In an interview, a Circle spokesperson stated that the new agreement reflects both parties’ commitment to move the deal forward after it became clear that the original closing date would not be met. “It was clear that the original deal would not be closed within the time parameters of the original business combination agreement,” they explained (April 3, 2022). As part of the deal extension negotiations, the value of Circle was updated to reflect improved financial performance and USDC’s competitive position, as well as a new initial outside date of December 8, 2022.”
Circle remains committed to becoming a publicly traded company once the business merger is completed and a new company is designated, in accordance with the original agreement. That new company will acquire both Circle and Concord and become a publicly traded company, trading under the ticker symbol “CRCL” on the New York Stock Exchange.
“Although we continue to work diligently toward completion of this transaction, the timing will ultimately depend on many factors beyond our control, including the SEC’s review of our registration statement on form S-4,” a spokesperson said.
50 BILLION USDC (w/ thread below) pic.twitter.com/5FEaPmXjup
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) February 1, 2022
Circle has built a strong reputation in the cryptocurrency industry by emphasizing regulatory compliance and demonstrating the full backing of its USDC reserves. Circle minted its 50 billionth USD Coin earlier this month, trailing only Tether’s (USDT) in terms of stable coin market capitalization. According to CoinMarketCap, USDC accounts for more than 29 percent of the stable coin market, with a current value of $52.6 billion.
The market for stable coins is now worth $180.1 billion, up from around $10 billion in mid-2020.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
