Trading platform EToro, a rival to Robinhood Markets Inc., plans to go public via a merger with a blank-check firm led by serial dealmaker Betsy Cohen.
The agreement with FinTech Acquisition Corp. V values the combined company at about $10.4 billion, according to a statement Tuesday confirming a Bloomberg report. The companies are raising about $650 million in equity to support the deal.
EToro became a member of the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., or Finra, in the last year and is expected to start providing stock-trading service in the U.S. in the second half of 2021, according to the statement.
EToro has 20 million registered users in dozens of countries, according to its website. Founded in 2007, it expanded into the U.S. in 2018.
Just like its rivals, it offers zero-commission trading. Unlike U.S. firms, EToro doesn’t make money by selling its trading data to hedge funds in a business called payment-for-order flow, a practice that is prohibited in Europe. Instead, EToro primarily pockets a spread between the price its pays for securities and the price it passes along to customers.
It also brands itself as a “social trading” network, where investors can share their opinions and market exploits, and copy bets made by the best performers on the system.
“In the last few years, EToro has solidified its position as the leading online social-trading platform outside the U.S., outlined its plans for the U.S. market and diversified its income streams,” Cohen said. “It is now at an inflection point of growth, and we believe EToro is exceptionally positioned to capitalize on this opportunity.”
The special purpose acquisition company raised $250 million in December. Cohen, its chairman, has been involved with several blank-check companies, including one taking boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners public.
