$3.6B SPAC merger falls apart for startup Roxe

by Arthur · October 6, 2022

The public debut of blockchain payments startup Rox has been scrapped following the merger with the company’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Goldstone The acquisition was mutually terminated.

Since the move to end the deal was equally decided by both parties, there are no termination fees, according to the latter SEC Filing. No reason was given for terminating the agreement and few details were provided in the notice.

The merger was originally planned to close in the first quarter of 2023 as Roxe Holding Group Inc and be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker ROXE.

See also: Report: Blockchain Payments Firm Roxe Nears $3.6B SPAC Merger

Headquartered in New York, New York, Roxe operates payments and digital commerce solutions for merchant transfers and consumer purchases. The global payments company offers both business-to-business and consumer payment services, with a focus on blockchain technology.

Goldenstone Acquisition, headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, originally announced its $3.6 billion SPAC merger agreement with Roxe on June 22. This would have been the second SPAC merger this year for Roxes founder Haohan Xu, as he closed a $530 million SPAC deal in January with Apifiny.

Roxe and Goldenstone mark the 46th SPAC deal closed this year, according to a report from SpacInsider. The report noted that the deal was signed during an adverse and volatile market environment filled with falling cryptocurrency values and fears of disappointing returns.

Read more: FinTech IPO Index Flat as Billtrust Increases on Go-Private Deal

SPACs surged in popularity throughout 2020 and 2021, but many SPACs that went public are struggling to find deals, with an estimated 600 in recent years still searching, according to Dealogic data cited by Reuters.

Before August of this year, 26 SPAC mergers in the US were scrapped, according to Spac Research, compared to 18 in all of last year and seven in 2020.

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