Mortgage Startup Better to Go Public in SPAC Merger
May 10 2021 - 5:30PM
Dow Jones News
By Maureen Farrell
Startup mortgage lender Better plans to go public by merging
with a special-purpose acquisition company, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Better Holdco Inc. plans to merge with Aurora Acquisition Corp.,
a SPAC sponsored by investment firm Novator Capital, at valuation
of roughly $7 billion pre-money, the people said. The transaction
could be completed this week.
SoftBank Group Corp., which recently invested $500 million in
Better, could put in another $1.3 billion through a PIPE, or
private investment in public equity, a common feature of SPAC
mergers. (Better might place $400 million of that with other
investors.) The remaining $200 million of the $1.5 billion PIPE is
to come from Aurora, whose sponsor is the investment vehicle of
Icelandic billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson.
Write to Maureen Farrell at maureen.farrell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 10, 2021 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)
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