In brief
- Evernorth cleared its final hurdle to go public after Armada Acquisition Corp. II shareholders approved their merger Sept. 30.
- The transaction and related placements raised over $1 billion for what the company calls the largest publicly traded pure-play XRP treasury.
- Backed by Ripple, Pantera, Kraken and others, it joins the crypto-treasury trend, with fortunes tied to XRP's volatile price.
Evernorth, a treasury company built around XRP, has cleared the last major obstacle to going public, with shareholders approving its merger and setting the stage for a Nasdaq listing next week.
The company said Wednesday that shareholders of Armada Acquisition Corp. II, the blank-check company Evernorth is merging with, voted to approve the business combination at a meeting Sept. 30.
The deal is expected to close Oct. 7, with Evernorth's Class A common stock slated to begin trading Oct. 8 under the ticker "XRPN."
The merger and related fundraising have pulled in more than $1 billion. The transaction is expected to generate roughly $300 million in gross cash proceeds, including $225 million from private placements, $30 million in convertible note financing and about $48 million in trust proceeds, before expenses.
Investors also contributed XRP directly, and at closing Evernorth expects to hold about 473 million XRP, which it says would make it the “largest publicly traded pure-play” XRP treasury company. The firm said 100% of its committed funders are participating.
"Going public will offer investors a regulated, transparent way to own XRP exposure and participate in the growth of the blockchain economy," said Asheesh Birla, Evernorth's founder and CEO.
→Evernorth is backed by a roster of crypto heavyweights, including Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, SBI Group, GSR, and Arrington Capital. The company first unveiled its plan to go public around a $685 million XRP stash, part of a Ripple-backed effort to raise $1 billion to accumulate the token. It cleared SEC review when its registration statement took effect in late August.
The listing adds XRP to the booming digital-asset treasury trend, in which public companies raise capital to stockpile a single crypto asset and tie their share price to it, a model pioneered by Michael Saylor's Strategy with Bitcoin.
Evernorth said it intends to grow its XRP per share over time through yield strategies, ecosystem participation and capital-markets activity.
The structure carries the familiar risk of the category: the company's fortunes will track XRP's price, which can swing sharply in either direction.