SoFi Technologies (SOFI) began trading on the Nasdaq on Tue 1 June 21

SoFi Technologies is an online personal finance company and online bank. It provides financial products including student and auto loan refinancing, mortgages, personal loans, credit card, investing, and banking. 

• Sector(s): Financial Services
• Industry: Credit Services
• Full Time Employees: 2,500
• Founded in 2011 
• HQ in San Francisco, California
• https://www.sofi.com

SoFi attracted funding from investors such as Peter Thiel, private equity firm Silver Lake and SoftBank, according to PitchBook.

Went public in a $8.65 billion deal with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings V, the latest blank-check company from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.

Other Chamath SPACs: Opendoor Technologies (OPEN), Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE), Clover Health Investments (CLOV)

On the first day of trading the stock closed up more than 12% to $22.65.

 

 

 

 Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi

Grindr to go public in $2.1 bln SPAC deal

(Reuters) - Gay dating app Grindr said on Monday it would go public through a merger with a blank-check acquisition firm - a deal that values it at $2.1 billion and features Tiga Investments CEO Raymond Zage on both sides of the transaction.

Grindr said its existing shareholders would own 78% of the company after the merger, which comes two years after China's Kunlun Tech Co (300418.SZ) divested it for $620 million due to U.S. national security concerns.

While Grindr did not disclose the identities of its existing shareholders, Reuters previously reported that Zage had a 41% stake in the consortium that acquired Grindr. A source familiar with the matter said on Monday that Zage continues to be an investor in Grindr.

Tiga Acquisition Corp (TINV.N), the Singapore-based special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that will merge with Grindr, is controlled by Zage.

Under the deal, Grindr will receive $284 million in cash from Tiga and up to $100 million in a forward purchase agreement.

Grindr and Tiga expect that their deal may require clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) which scrutinizes deals for potential national security risks, according to a copy of their merger agreement that was made public on Monday.

CFIUS ordered Kunlun to sell Grindr in 2019 over concerns that the personal data of U.S. users could be accessed or exploited by China's government.

It could not be learned if CFIUS had a role in Grindr's decision to explore a sale and merger with a SPAC. A spokesperson for the U.S. Treasury Department, that chairs CFIUS, did not respond to a request for comment.

Miami International Holdings confidentially files for U.S. IPO

(Reuters) – Miami International Holdings Inc, which owns the options exchange Miami International Securities Exchange (MIAX), said on Friday it has confidentially submitted paperwork with regulators for a U.S. initial public offering.

• https://www.miaxoptions.com/
• MIAX Options, MIAX PEARL and MIAX Emerald are fully electronic options trading exchanges and wholly-owned subsidiaries of Miami International Holdings, Inc. (MIH) that comprise the MIAX Exchange Group.  
• On February 21, 2019 MIAX Options launched options on the SPIKES™ Volatility Index. SPIKES™ is a measure of the expected 30-day volatility in the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF (SPY), the most actively-traded exchange traded fund in the world. SPIKES™ was developed by T3 Index (T3), a research-driven indexing firm that develops proprietary indexes as part of a partnership with MIH.

The Princeton, New Jersey-based exchange operator did not share any other details related to the terms of the offering and chose to keep its finances hidden from competition by confidentially filing initial paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Miami International owns three options exchanges including the MIAX Pearl. It also runs the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, among others.

The company launched stock trading on the MIAX Pearl in September 2020, looking to grab market share from the likes of its listed peers such as Nasdaq Inc, Intercontinental Exchange Inc owned New York Stock Exchange, Cboe Global Markets and others.

Miami International launched options trading on the MIAX, its first exchange, in December 2012, using management expertise and relationships in the equity options space. It now lists and trades options on over 3,900 multi-listed classes, its website said.

The MIAX Exchange Group’s executive offices and National Operations Center are located in Princeton, NJ, with a Miami Operations Center, Annual Meeting and Conference Center, and offices for MIAX Technologies and MIAX Global, two other MIH subsidiaries, located in Miami, FL.

Bausch + Lomb (BLCO) began trading on the NYSE on Fri 6 May 22

 Bausch + Lomb is an eye health products company based in Laval, Quebec, Canada. It is one of the world's largest suppliers of contact lenses, lens care products, pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, and other eye surgery products.

Bausch + Lomb, the first of two businesses being spun out by Bausch Health Cos., was seen as a test of whether a stable, profitable business could help break the ice for dozens of companies waiting in the wings to go public.

Shares of the contact lens and eye-care company opened trading Friday at $18.50, after selling for $18 in the IPO. They closed at $20 in New York trading, giving the company a market value of $7 billion.

Bausch Health will get the proceeds from the IPO as the selling shareholder, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bausch Health had aimed to raise as much as $840 million at the top of the $21 to $24 price range.

CEO Moves

With the spinoff, Joseph Papa has moved from chief executive officer of Bausch Health to CEO and chairman of Bausch + Lomb. Thomas Appio has been appointed to replace him as the top executive at Bausch Health, according to a statement. Papa will remain chairman of Bausch Health.

In an effort to raise money to pay off tens of billions in debt on its books from that era, Bausch Health is also planning to spin off its Solta Medical skin-care unit. Bausch Health, which is keeping its core pharmaceutical operations, had about $23 billion in total debt as of Dec. 31.

Solta Spinoff

Solta submitted its IPO filing to the SEC in February but hasn’t moved ahead with proposed terms for its share sale. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Solta had net income of $72.8 million on revenue of $219 million, according to its filing.

Bausch + Lomb, based in Vaughan, Ontario, reported $65 million in net income on $3.8 billion in revenue on a pro forma basis in 2021. In addition to contact lenses and solutions under brands including Ocuvite, PureVision and Biotrue, the company also makes ophthalmic pharmaceuticals for ailments such as glaucoma, as well as surgical tools and devices.

Bausch + Lomb’s offering is topped in the U.S. this year only by private equity firm TPG Inc.’s $1.1 billion listing in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.