Aurora Acquisition (AURC) shareholders are scheduled to vote on the SPAC’s proposed merger with online mortgage lender Better on Friday, August 11. The merger was announced more than two years ago, and has weathered an SEC investigation, numerous rounds of high-profile layoffs and executive turnover, and a sharp downturn in the mortgage market. If approved, the combined company will list later this month under the ticker “BETR” and would be one of the largest de-SPACs of 2023 at a $8.0 billion market cap, based on the $10 transaction price. While the US mortgage market has begun to rebound from a difficult 2022, Better faces more challenges than most, with revenue declines, substantial losses, a slide in market share, and generally poor returns for 2023 de-SPACS. Despite some fundamental weaknesses and a valuation struck in 2021, Aurora Acquisition’s stock has skyrocketed in the past few weeks after its low float and relatively high short interest attracted momentum traders; it closed Thursday, August 10 at $40.21, significantly above the $10 transaction price.
Transaction Details
On May 11, 2021, Aurora Acquisition and Better announced their proposed business combination. At $10, Better would have a market value of $8.0 billion and an enterprise value of...To read the rest of the article, sign up for a free trial of IPO Pro.
