Where do you get the share price of "Animoca Brands"? I thought it was delisted in March 2020? ThanksStripped of its ASX listing in March 2020 over governance issues, digital property rights company Animoca Brands has just ruled off a US$65 million ($87 million) raising at a pre-money valuation of US$2.2 billion ($2.9 billion).
That valuation is more than double the $US1 billion ($1.3 billion) that Animoca fetched during a raise just four months ago, and is also a far cry from its $120 million market cap in March 2020 when the ASX kicked it out of its the local bourse.
Hong-Kong headquartered Animoca Brands started off developing app-based games but in 2019 pivoted to non-fungible tokens, which it often develops in partnership with brands like Formula One, to offer in-game rewards to players including collectibles, utility tokens and esports titles. Some of these can be exchanged for cryptocurrencies.
This round’s investors are all international, and include names like Sequoia China, Liberty City Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, and Jack Ma protégée Justin Sun. Jack Ma and Joe Tsai’s family office Blue Pool Capital invested in a previous round, as did Samsung.
However, some of Animoca’s Australian investors kept their shares after the delisting, and must be riding high.The list is understood to include Regal Funds, SG Hiscock, Ellerston Capital, Perennial Value and private wealth group Koda Capital. Tribeca Investment Partners is understood to have shed its holding since.
Animoca plans to spend its fresh funds on product development, licenses for popular intellectual properties, and for strategic investments and acquisitions.
The company already has a portfolio of over 100 investments in what it sees as the world’s most meaningful NFT-related companies, including NFT marketplace OpenSea and NFT-based online video game Axie Infinity.
Animoca’s corporate adviser Everest Ventures Group oversaw the raising. It was priced at $2 per share for a total of 43.9 million new shares.
Animoca’s eye-watering valuation jump is likely to set off some belated fear of missing out over at the ASX.
ASX’s eviction letters to Animoca referenced “involvement in cryptocurrency-related activities” and “certain governance items”, the AFR previously reported.
The exchange has somewhat softened its stance on cryptocurrency-related listings, allowing in some ETFs this month. But local company exposures (as opposed to fund-level exposures) to the cryptocurrency theme via the ASX remain in short supply.
While the ASX has been making up its mind over crypto listings, homegrown Bitcoin miners Iris Energy and Mawson Infrastructure have headed overseas, to the NASDAQ, in looking for access to the public equity markets.
Animoca Brands still wants to go public eventually.
There’s at least one exchange that probably won’t be getting its business.
