BlackRock-Backed Securitize Eyes Nasdaq Listing at $1.25 Billion Valuation Via SPAC Deal

Securitize plans to go public by combining with Cantor Equity Partners II, in an SPAC deal valuing the BlackRock-backed tokenization firm at $1.25 billion, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

The company’s common stock will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SECZ” once the transaction is completed, Securitize said. The firm will also issue digital representations of its stock on a blockchain, the company added.

Securitize expects up to $469 million in proceeds from the proposed merger, which would stem from a private placement in public equity and Cantor Equity Partners II’s trust account. 

Existing backers, including BlackRock–the world’s largest asset manager–and financial services giants ARK Invest, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management, will see their equity rolled into the combined company, Securitize said.

The stock price of Cantor Equity Partners II, an affiliate of the firm linked to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, fell 7% on Tuesday to $11.93, according to Yahoo Finance.  

Securitize offers a platform enabling companies to manage issuance of real-world assets on-chain, including stock and money market funds. Last March, the company helped BlackRock debut its $2.8 billion USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL).

Several crypto firms have debuted on Wall Street this year as U.S. regulators and lawmakers have moved to bring clarity to the industry. Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo told Decrypt that Circle’s blockbuster IPO in June provided ample motivation.

“We started thinking, maybe this makes sense for us,” he said. “We’ve been really pushing for the company to become profitable, and I think there are a lot of opportunities.”

Domingo described BlackRock’s BUIDL as a “catalyst” for tokenization, and last month, Securitize reached an agreement with FG Nexus, a Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury firm, to issue a tokenized version of its stock on Ethereum.

Securitize’s tokenization platform underpins $22 billion worth of real-world assets, but Citi analysts have projected that the sector could reach $5 trillion by the end of the decade.

Having a big balance sheet gives Securitize the opportunity to participate in consolidating the industry, as opposed to being scooped up by a larger firm, Domingo said.

Domingo said that Securitize’s public debut will likely take place early next year, depending on how the regulatory process plays out and when the U.S. government shutdown ends.

“We’ve built a real company with 230 employees, revenue, growth, [and] profits,” he said. “We’re just scratching the surface of what the industry is.”