Virtual brokerage company Robinhood has reached an agreement with the U.S. Marshal Service (USMS) to buy back shares of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Emergent Fidelity Technologies.
The cost of this deal, as reported by the media, is $605.7 million. The agreement between the company and the USMS was reached after the firm’s shares were seized and transferred to the custody of the United States government. This happened in connection with the bankruptcy filings of Emergent Fidelity Technologies and Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.
Robinhood disclosed information about the deal in a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The share purchase agreement was concluded on August 30. The deal was closed the next day.
At the beginning of February this year, the company reported that the board of directors approved the purchase of most or all of the shares.
The agreement reached with the USMS stipulates that Robinhood will buy 55.3 million shares at a price of $10.96 per share. This deal was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The news of the agreement, which was made public some time after the agreement was reached, became a factor with a positive impact on the value of Robinhood shares. At the premarket, the company’s shares showed an increase of more than 3%.
Before the bankruptcy of his companies, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former owner of 7.6% of Robinhood shares, supported the platform and announced a potential partnership. The collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange canceled the businessman’s fortune. Currently, Sam Bankman-Fried is a defendant in charges of involvement in fraudulent activities and conspiracy. These charges were announced regarding the bankruptcy. Prior to the trial, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and director of FTX, was ranked 60th on the Forbes list of billionaires. At that time, his fortune was estimated at $24 billion.
During the bankruptcy procedure, FTX SBF, BlockFi, and the lender of the cryptocurrency exchange Yonatan Ben Shimon conducted lawsuits for the right to own shares of Robinhood, the value of which was about $600 million. Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team stated that he claimed assets to pay for his defense in a criminal case. The head of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, after a judge revoked his bail in August, will appear in court in October.
In February, Robinhood executives, announcing their intention to buy 55 million shares from Emergent Fidelity Technologies, noted that this decision would be useful for the company, but at that time there was no information about when this plan would be implemented. The company’s CEO, Vlad Tenev, stated that there is a limited precedent for such situations. He also announced in February that distractions for shareholders would be eliminated.
The company’s chief financial officer, Jason Warnick, then expressed confidence in the firm’s business and noted that using excess corporate money to buy most or all of the approximately 55 million shares is a reasonable decision. He also noted that the company will maintain a strong balance sheet to invest in growth.
As we have reported earlier, Robinhood Reports First-Ever Profit.
