Evernorth Shareholders Approve $1 Billion XRP Treasury Deal, Clearing Path to Nasdaq Listing

Armada Acquisition shareholders give final approval

Armada Acquisition Corp. II shareholders have approved a business combination with Evernorth, a company focused on holding XRP as a corporate treasury asset. The approval removes a key obstacle, clearing the way for the combined entity to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol XRPN. The deal is expected to close on October 7, with trading set to begin on October 8.

How much XRP and cash the deal brings in

• The transaction is expected to raise roughly $300 million in gross cash proceeds.
• Investors have also contributed XRP in kind, meaning they are handing over tokens rather than cash.
• At closing, Evernorth is expected to hold approximately 473 million XRP tokens.
• Before those in-kind contributions arrive, Evernorth currently holds about 347 million XRP, worth roughly $512 million at the price reported at publication time.
• XRP was trading around $1.48 when the article was written, with a market capitalization above $93 billion.

What Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla said

Evernorth CEO Asheesh Birla stated in a company release that going public would offer investors a regulated and transparent way to gain exposure to XRP and take part in the growth of the blockchain economy. He thanked shareholders for their support in completing the transaction.

Who is backing Evernorth

The company's investor lineup includes Arrington Capital, SBI Group, Ripple, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and GSR. These firms span venture capital, asset management, exchange, and trading services.

Regulatory steps already taken

Evernorth filed its S-4 registration for the roughly $1 billion special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal back in March. A SPAC is a shell company that lists publicly with the goal of merging with a private business. The registration became effective in August. Around that time, Evernorth Chief Business Officer Sagar Shah indicated a new proposal could add native lending features to the XRP Ledger, a blockchain network, while reducing risks associated with smart contracts, which are self-executing programs on a blockchain.

Context for XRP this quarter

XRP finished the third quarter more than 40 percent higher, according to market data cited in the source. The ticker XRPN would join spot XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are funds that track the price of a cryptocurrency and trade on stock exchanges, as another regulated avenue for retail and institutional investors to gain exposure to XRP without buying the token directly on a crypto exchange.

What happens next

The transaction is expected to close on October 7, and the combined company is set to begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN on October 8. Investors contributing XRP in kind will see their token holdings incorporated into the public company's treasury at that point.

Sources

• The Block