Online trading platform Webull set to go public via $7.3B SPAC deal

Webull is planning to go public through merging with a special purpose acquisition company in a deal that values the digital investing platform at $7.3 billion.

The New York-based online brokerage will combine with SK Growth Opportunities Corporation in the second half of the year, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. The combined company will be listed on Nasdaq as Webull under a new ticker.

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, raise capital in an initial public offering and use the cash to merge with a private company and take it public, usually within two years.

After suffering a drought over the past two years, the space is showing signs of a revival as the bull market powers on and interest rates start to stabilize.

Webull launched its trading platform in the U.S. in 2018 and enjoyed a huge boost during the Covid-19 pandemic as many Americans became first-time traders during lockdowns. The firm had $370 billion in equity notional volumes and 430 million options contracts traded through its platform in 2023.

Compared to its competitor Robinhood, Webull’s clients tend to be more active and advanced investors, using analytical tools such as charting to decide when to enter and exit their trades, CEO Anthony Denier said in a CNBC interview in 2021.

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