Global FinTech Circle is planning to file for a public listing on the NYSE with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Concord Acquisition Corp at a valuation of an estimated $4.5 billion. An unnamed Irish holding company will acquire both Circle and Concord to go public under the ticker CRCL.
“Circle was founded with a mission to transform the global economic system through the power of digital currencies and the open internet,” Circle Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said in a Thursday (July 8) press release. “We’ve made huge strides towards realizing this vision, and through this strategic transaction and ultimate public debut, we are taking an even bigger step forward, with the capital and relationships needed to build a global-scale internet financial services company that can help businesses everywhere to connect into a more open, inclusive and effective global economic system.”
Circle is the main operator of the USD Coin (USDC), which has $25 billion in circulation. The Boston-headquartered startup also supported in excess of $785 billion in on-chain transactions. This year alone has seen the number of USDC in circulation grow over 3400 percent, which the company said has helped fuel numerous use cases for “high-trust, low-friction internet-native payments and settlements.”
The combined entity has $415 million of capital commitments at $10 per share, with participation from Marshall Wace, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Adage Capital Management, accounts advised by ARK Investment Management, and Third Point. That funding is on top of a maximum contribution of $276 million of cash held in a Concord trust account. The filing is estimated to give Circle $691 million to benefit the newly combined entity.
“Circle is the true pioneer of trusted digital currencies, an increasingly critical part of the global financial system,” said Bob Diamond, Chairman of Concord Acquisition Corp and CEO of Atlas Merchant Capital. “The firm has earned its exceptionally strong reputation building highly innovative blockchain-enabled products and services within the regulatory perimeter.”
Circle closed a $440 million funding round in May that was earmarked for growth and organizational development. In an April PYMNTS interview, Allaire said digital commerce has numerous steps that need to be streamlined, especially with back-end processes.
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