We didn’t suppose we’d see the day.
Digital mortgage lender Better.com’s proposal to mix with Aurora Acquisition Corp. through a SPAC (particular goal acquisition) has been accredited by shareholders, the corporate confirmed at this time.
Based on a Securities and Change Fee (SEC) filing, Higher.com will mix with Aurora, or go public, “on or about August 22, 2023.”
“At the least 65% of the excellent strange shares of the corporate entitled to vote at this assembly have voted in favor of (the) proposal,” Arnaud Massenet, CEO of Aurora Acquisition Corp, mentioned in a shareholder’s assembly on Friday, as reported by HousingWire.
Upon the closing of the transaction, the mixed entity will see an infusion of no less than $550 million (and as much as $750 million) in new capital from SoftBank, in keeping with Aurora’s filing with the Securities and Change Fee (SEC) in July and as reported by HousingWire. In late November 2021, we reported that Aurora Acquisition Corp. and SoftBank determined to amend the terms of their financing agreement to instantly present Higher with half of the $1.5 billion that they had dedicated as an alternative of ready till the deal closed.
Higher.com had initially started making plans to go public through a $6 billion SPAC in Could 2021. (Later that 12 months, the deal was valued at $7.7 billion). Issues took a dramatic flip for the more serious later that 12 months, and the SPAC was delayed.
With so many challenges going through Higher.com over the previous two years – together with layoffs, high-profile executive resignations, a housing market slowdown and adverse publicity – trade observers had been skeptical that the corporate’s going-public plans would truly materialize.
TechCrunch reported final week that the long-awaited vote for Higher.com to go public was scheduled for at this time forward of the prolonged deadline to finish the merger deal on September 30.
In late July, Aurora had mentioned in an SEC submitting that shareholders could be requested to vote on a proposal that if the SPAC merger did happen, with Aurora surviving the merger, Aurora would change its title to “Higher House & Finance Holding Firm.”
Final 12 months, Higher.com declared that it meant to maneuver ahead with its deliberate public debut, regardless of the lackluster efficiency of blank-check combinations in previous quarters. Higher.com itself had seen its fair proportion of turbulence because it introduced its plans to merge with a SPAC, together with a number of botched layoffs (extra on these here and here) and altering market circumstances that impacted elements of its enterprise, together with a surge in mortgage rates of interest. In a single layoffs assembly, CEO Vishal Garg famously was recorded saying the corporate had “probably pissed away $200 million.“
Final week, TechCrunch reported that the SEC had mentioned it did not intend to recommend an enforcement action in opposition to Higher.com. The pronouncement got here after an investigation on the a part of the SEC to find out if violations of federal securities legal guidelines had occurred. Final July, the SEC started wanting into whether or not Higher.com had violated federal securities laws, requesting paperwork from each the corporate and SPAC companion Aurora Acquisition Corp. about their enterprise actions.
The embattled fintech startup laid off its real estate team on June 7, shifting from an in-house agent mannequin to a partnership agent mannequin. It additionally continues to bleed money.
Based on HousingWire, different Aurora filings from July present that Higher.com had posted a net loss of $89.9 million in Q1 2023 and had slashed about 91% of its workforce over an roughly 18-month interval. Whereas Higher.com appears to have narrowed its loss in comparison with a net loss of $327.7 million within the first quarter of 2022, it’s clearly nonetheless struggling.
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