Robinhood Acquires Ziglu for Below Half of Agreed Price

UK fintech firm Ziglu announced that it would be acquired by trading platform Robinhood at a significant markdown of the original price agreed upon.

Robinhood Markets Inc. will now be acquiring Ziglu for $72.5 million, instead of the $170 million that had originally been arranged. Both the shareholder and the board of directors have signed and approved the deal under the new conditions, according to Ziglu CEO Mark Henderson. He added that this would be “the best deal for all stakeholders, especially customers.”

Informed investors

Henderson confirmed the details of the new deal in documents shared with investors on the crowdfunding platform Seedrs. According to the chief executive, Robinhood had approached the company on the week of July 18, informing it that it couldn’t follow through with the deal as it had previously been arranged.

“Robinhood cited a range of reasons for this change, including the general crypto (winter) market impacting valuations negatively by 50%-90%, the valuation impacts of notable failures including Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager, and ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical risks,” Henderson explained.

Original announcement

Earlier this year, Robinhood had first announced its intention to purchase Ziglu, at the time for an undisclosed sum. While it was later revealed to be $170 million, last November Ziglu raised £7 million ($9 million), which put its valuation at the time of the original announcement at £85 million ($110 million).

The U.S. trading platform’s eventual plans to integrate Ziglu marks the expansion of its operations into Europe, as well as its second attempt at entering the U.K. market, following a botched attempt in July 2020. The California-based company remarked how the London-based firm’s “impressive team of deeply experienced financial services and crypto experts [will help] accelerate our global expansion efforts”.

In addition to renewing its efforts in the U.K., the purchase also indicated a further willingness to invest in its cryptocurrency offerings, after the trading platform had suggested that its pandemic-driven crypto trading boom was cooling, with Robinhood shares dipping up to 30% this year.

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