Prime Blockchain Inc, a bitcoin mining and infrastructure company, planned to go public in the United States on Friday by combining with a blank-check provider in a deal worth $1.25 billion, including debt.
The company, which operates data centres and crypto mining operations across North America under the name PrimeBlock, has received $300 million in equity financing for the transaction from a Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. affiliate.
The merger with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp II (VCXA.O) is likely to close in the second half of this year, following which PrimeBlock Chief Executive Officer Gaurav Budhrani will lead the combined business, which will be listed on the Nasdaq.
PrimeBlock’s plan to go public comes at a time when acquisitions with blank-check corporations, also known as special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC), have stalled as a result of a regulatory crackdown prompted by investor concerns that they were being taken advantage of.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently released a draught rule that would compel SPACs to disclose additional information about their sponsors, including salary, conflicts of interest, and share dilution, in order to prevent them from issuing unduly optimistic earnings estimates.
