Investment Firm Arcane Crypto Plans Nasdaq Nordic Listing Through $32M Reverse Takeover

Norwegian cryptocurrency investment firm Arcane Crypto is planning to list on Nasdaq Nordic’s alternative stock exchange through a reverse takeover.

• On paper, Arcane will be fully acquired by Swedish firm Vertical Ventures – which is listed on Nasdaq First North – for just under SEK 300 million (~$32 million).
• However, Arcane will be the majority owners of Vertical Ventures, which will trade under the Arcane name.
• To fund the $32 million takeover, Vertical Ventures will issue more than 6.6 billion new shares – each at half a U.S. cent.
• In November, Arcane tapped Eric Wall, blockchain lead at Cinnober, which was acquired by Nasdaq in 2018, as its new CIO.
• Arcane CEO Torbjorn Bull Jenssen said that if the listing is successful, the firm would appeal to a wider investor base.
• The latest deal will have to be approved by shareholders; Nasdaq North will also have to sign off on the new company structure before it can be re-listed.
• Vertical Ventures' shares have jumped on the news, and are up 53% since the market open.
• Both sides are now performing due diligence, with the takeover expected to be completed in the second half of this year 2020.

EDIT (July 2, 13:40 UTC): A previous version of this article stated Arcane was a fund and that it had signed an LOI with Tongdow E-Commerce, this has now been corrected.