UPDATE 1-Mobile bank MoneyLion to go public via blank-check merger in $2.9 bln deal
(Adds background, details from statement)
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Mobile banking platform MoneyLion Incsaid on Friday it has agreed to go public through a merger withblank-check firm Fusion Acquisition Corp, in a dealthat values the equity of the combined company at $2.9 billion.
MoneyLion said it expects the combined company, which willhave an enterprise value of $2.4 billion, to get $526 million incash proceeds.
The deal will be supported by a $250 million privateinvestment from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock,affiliates of Apollo Global Management and others.
New York-based fintech company MoneyLion was founded in 2013and is led by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer DiwakarChoubey, a Wall Street executive who has held senior positionsat Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citadel andBarclays PLC.
The platform uses machine learning to provide its customersaccess to small loans in addition to financial advisory andinvestment services through its mobile app.
SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies like Fusion,raise money through an initial public offering (IPO) to acquirea private company, which becomes public as a result of themerger.
Online lending startup Social Finance Inc (SoFi) also agreedto be taken public by a blank-check firm backed by venturecapital investor Chamath Palihapitiya in January at a $8.65billion valuation.
Such mergers have gained popularity over the past year sinceit allows companies, which are looking to go public, to bypassthe meticulous scrutiny involved in an IPO and also offers morestability in terms of valuation.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Sohini Podder in Bengaluru;Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shinjini Ganguli)
