eToro to acquire TradeZero for $231 million

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The company had secured the AIA in early 2021 as a kind of backstop from current backers in the event that its proposed SPAC fell through. The company came to an agreement with investors, according to eToro, that the investment would be converted two years after the signing of the agreement based on the following conditions: that it had not pursued the SPAC transaction or raised any additional capital. The SPAC, clearly, never took place; and the company has not raised an equity round since 2018. The company denies that it tried to raise money in a traditional round last year. Nevertheless, the company had a number of setbacks around the SPAC that called higher valuations into question. In March 2021, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based company had announced it would go public via a merger with Betsy Cohen-backed FinTech Acquisition Corp. V in a $10.4 billion deal. At the time of its SPAC filing, the company projected revenue of nearly $1.2 billion in 2022. The company struck an upbeat tone concerning its uneven growth: “At eToro we need no reminder that markets are cyclical. (For reference, the company reported $114 million worth of EBITDA in 2017, and $193 million in 2018 in its SPAC presentation.) In late 2020, it was reportedly valued at $2.5 billion after an undisclosed US-based firm bought about $50 million of its shares in the secondary market from previous investors and employees. Despite the company’s recent struggles, Assia maintains that the company has seen its clients “HODL [hold on for dear life] around crypto,” buying and holding more crypto at the end of 2022. He added that so far this year, the company has seen “an improvement” in total commissions and profitability compared with the previous quarter “with higher engagement and trading activity” from its users. Today, eToro has 31.4 million registered users (a cumulative number which includes anyone who has ever opened and retained an eToro account), operates in over 100 countries and has $5.8 billion in assets under administration. During the year, eToro says it – among other things – expanded its U.S. investment offering to include U.S. stocks and ETFs, completed an expansion of eToro Money across the United Kingdom to the entire EU, acquired Gatsby – a commission-free options and stock-trading app aimed at younger traders – and portfolio management platform Bullsheet. EToro doesn’t have any material financing exposure to the bank, the executive said. In fact, at the time that the SPAC agreement was terminated last July, Calcalist reported that eToro was “in advanced negotiations for a private funding round for between $800 million and $1 billion, at a $5 billion valuation.” eToro is currently EBITDA profitable, according to Assia, and has generated over $400 million in profits over the past five years.