$3.6B SPAC Merger Falls Apart for Blockchain Payments Startup Roxe

The public debut for blockchain payments startup Roxe has been scrapped after its special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Goldenstone Acquisition was mutually terminated.

Since the move to end the agreement was equally decided by both parties, there are no termination fees, according to the most recent SEC filing. No reasons were given for ending the deal and few details were offered in the notice.

The merger was originally scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2023 as Roxe Holding Group Inc and be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker ROXE.

See also: Report: Blockchain Payments Firm Roxe Close to $3.6B SPAC Merger

Headquartered in New York, New York, Roxe powers payments and digital commerce solutions for merchant remittances and consumer purchases. The global payments company offers both business-to-business and consumer payments services, with a focus on blockchain technology.

Goldenstone Acquisition, headquartered in Aurora, Illinois, initially announced its $3.6 billion SPAC merger deal with Roxe on June 22. This would have been the second SPAC merger this year for Roxe’s founder Haohan Xu, as he closed a $530 million SPAC deal in January with Apifiny.

Roxe and Goldenstone mark the 46th SPAC deal terminated this year, according to a report from SpacInsider. The report noted that the deal was signed during an unfavorable and volatile market environment rife with falling cryptocurrency values and fears of disappointing returns.

Read more: FinTech IPO Index Flat as Billtrust Surges on Go-Private Deal

SPACs surged in popularity through 2020 and 2021, but many SPACs that went public are struggling to find deals, with an estimated 600 in recent years still searching, according to Dealogic data cited by Reuters.

Before August of this year, 26 SPAC mergers in the U.S. were scrapped, according to Spac Research, compared to 18 in all of last year and seven in 2020.

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