WM Keeping Business, LLC, a Main Engineering Platform to the Hashish Industry, Completes Enterprise Combination With Silver Spike Acquisition Corp.
IRVINE, Calif.–(Organization WIRE)–WM Keeping Business, LLC (“WMH” or the “Company”), a main technologies and software infrastructure supplier to the cannabis sector, announced nowadays that it has completed its previously introduced business enterprise combination with Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. (Ticker: “SSPK”).
The transaction was unanimously accepted by SSPK’s Board of Directors and was authorised at a special assembly of SSPK stockholders on June 10, 2021. In connection with the closing, SSPK adjusted its name to WM Technology, Inc. The ticker symbol for the typical stock will transform from “SSPK” to “MAPS” and will start out investing as this kind of on the Nasdaq Stock Sector on June 16, 2021.
Founded in 2008, WMH operates Weedmaps, a main on the internet listings market for hashish people and enterprises, and WM Company, one of the most extensive SaaS membership offerings marketed to cannabis retailers and manufacturers. The Corporation presents software program and other technology answers and is non-plant touching. WMH has a record of expansion due to the fact its inception. From fiscal 12 months 2014 as a result of 2020, the Enterprise grew earnings at a CAGR of 35% and expanded its gross margin amount from 92% to 95%. For the year finished December 31, 2020, WMH produced $162 million of profits, web earnings of $39 million and Modified EBITDA of $43 million.
WMH’s senior administration workforce will continue to guide the now combined firm, which include Chris Beals (Chief Government Officer), Arden Lee (Chief Economical Officer), Juanjo Feijoo (Main Working Officer and Main Internet marketing Officer), Justin Dean (Main Technology Officer and Chief Details Officer), and Brian Camire (Typical Counsel).
“We are energized to finish this business combination, which will additional progress our mission to electricity a transparent and inclusive international cannabis overall economy, further solidify our place as a main technological know-how platform to the hashish market, and accelerate our growth,” stated Chris Beals, Main Govt Officer of WMH. “We carry on to advantage from solid, sustainable macro tailwinds as cannabis legalization developments during the U.S. and internationally. As a general public company, we now have an even much better platform to advocate for legalization, social fairness and licensing in many jurisdictions, whilst delivering hashish enterprises with the equipment desired to realize success in a extremely complex environment of restrictions. We are very well positioned to keep on scaling the Weedmaps market in provider of our people, whilst growing the functionality of our WM Small business SaaS offerings in services of our clientele.”
Scott Gordon, CEO and Chairman of SSPK, commented, “We are very pleased to entire the combination of Silver Spike and WMH, more setting up Weedmaps as a foremost on the net listings market for hashish consumers and companies, and WM Business as the most thorough SaaS membership offering sold to hashish retailers and models. We believe that WMH is the most powerful investment decision possibility in cannabis nowadays and as a public corporation, WMH is uniquely positioned to provide on its eyesight of aiding certified hashish businesses prosper whilst driving growth and returns for shareholders.”
Transaction Overview
The transaction provides $579 million of gross proceeds mostly comprised of $254 million of dollars from SSPK’s former belief account and $325 million of money from a private financial commitment in public fairness (PIPE), not together with transaction expenses. The PIPE is anchored by buyers such as money and accounts managed by AFV Companions, the Federated Hermes Kaufmann Funds and Senvest Management LLC alongside with a $35 million determination from Silver Spike Funds. $125 million in proceeds will be delivered to the harmony sheet of WMH as most important money, which include to pay out transaction fees and utilized to fund the company’s prepared expansion, including further more scaling its cloud-based WM Business enterprise SaaS membership giving, and increasing its lively consumer foundation and business enterprise listings in the U.S. and intercontinental markets. $455 million in proceeds will go to current WMH equity holders. WMH’s govt officers have rolled 100% of their fairness holdings as portion of the transaction. A much more specific description of the transaction can be found in the definitive proxy assertion submitted by SSPK with the SEC on May possibly 26, 2021.
Advisors
Rothschild & Co. served as exclusive economical and money marketplaces adviser and Cooley LLP and Dentons LLP served as lawful advisors to WM Keeping Company, LLC. Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and Piper Sandler & Co. served as joint placement brokers and economic advisors. BTIG, LLC, Canaccord Genuity LLC, JMP Securities LLC, and Belief Securities, Inc. also served as funds markets advisors and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal advisor to Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Jonathan Dennis served as authorized advisors to the founders of WM Holding.
About WM Keeping Company, LLC
WM Holding Company, LLC’s mission is to electrical power a transparent and inclusive world wide hashish economic system. Now in its 2nd 10 years, WMH has been a driving drive powering substantially of the legislative modify we have seen in the earlier 10 years.
Launched in 2008, WMH, is a leading technology and computer software infrastructure service provider to the cannabis market, comprising a B2C platform, Weedmaps, and B2B software package, WM Business enterprise. The cloud-dependent SaaS remedies from WM Enterprise supply an conclude-to-conclude operating method for hashish merchants. WM Business’ tools assist compliance with the intricate, disparate, and constantly evolving regulations applicable to the hashish field. By its web-site and cellular applications, WM Keeping gives people with the most recent data about cannabis vendors, brands, and merchandise, facilitating item discovery and driving engagement with our retail and manufacturer buyers.
WMH holds a robust belief in the energy of cannabis and the relevance of enabling safe, lawful obtain to people globally. Given that inception, WMH has worked tirelessly, not only to grow to be the most in depth platform for consumers, but to develop the software package options that energy firms compliantly in the area, to advocate for legalization, social equity, and licensing in many jurisdictions, and to facilitate further discovering through partnering with matter subject specialists on furnishing in-depth, precise information and facts about the plant.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, WMH employs close to 430 specialists all-around the planet. WMH supports distant function for all eligible workers and has hubs in Denver, Colorado Los Angeles, California and Kitchener, Ontario. Check out us at www.weedmaps.com.
About Silver Spike Acquisition Corp.
Silver Spike Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of Silver Spike Money, is a blank verify corporation shaped for the goal of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share invest in, reorganization, or very similar company blend with just one or extra firms.
The administration staff and board of administrators are composed of veteran hashish and finance market executives and founders, which includes Scott Gordon, founder, and CEO of the firm, who commenced investing in the cannabis marketplace in 2014 and in 2016 co-founded and became Chairman of Egg Rock Holdings, the father or mother company of the Papa & Barkley relatives of cannabis merchandise with similar subsidiary property in producing, processing and logistics and Dr. Orrin Devinsky, director of the enterprise, who is the director of the NYU Langone Complete Epilepsy Middle and is a Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience at the NYU College of Medicine and who, due to the fact 2016 has served as the Chair of the Health care Advisory Board at Tilray, a pharmaceutical and cannabis firm.
About Silver Spike Money
Silver Spike Money is an financial commitment supervisor centered on the hashish and option health & wellness industries. The business delivers diversified non-public credit and fairness-relevant investment opportunities in the rising and speedily accelerating point out and federally compliant hashish, hemp, and other cannabinoid sectors. Silver Spike also manages a undertaking fund centered on the nascent psychedelics marketplace.
With above 3 many years of investment decision practical experience, Silver Spike’s financial commitment experts include things like early cannabis investors, business owners, operators, and scientists as nicely as emerging current market finance veterans knowledgeable in elaborate legal and regulatory traits that mirror the present hashish landscape nowadays.
Silver Spike Money is headquartered in New York with a satellite business in Toronto. To discover much more, be sure to pay a visit to us at www.silverspikecap.com.
Forward-Wanting Statements
The details in this press release consists of “forward-wanting statements” inside the that means of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Personal Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-searching statements may well be identified by the use of words and phrases these as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target” or other related expressions that forecast or point out long run situations or tendencies or that are not statements of historical issues. These forward-hunting statements consist of, but are not minimal to, statements relating to estimates and forecasts of economic and overall performance metrics, projections of sector possibility and industry share, anticipations and timing linked to industrial solution launches, prospective advantages of the transaction and the probable results of WMH’s go-to-industry strategy, and anticipations connected to WMH’s capacity to scale its organization and develop its choices. These statements are dependent on several assumptions, no matter if or not discovered in this press release, and on the existing anticipations of WMH’s administration and are not predictions of real functionality. These forward-hunting statements are delivered for illustrative applications only and are not meant to serve as, and ought to not be relied on by any investor as, a warranty, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of simple fact or probability. Precise events and instances are challenging or impossible to forecast and will differ from assumptions. Many genuine activities and instances are further than the command of WMH. These ahead-on the lookout statements are topic to a number of pitfalls and uncertainties, together with modifications in domestic and international enterprise, current market, financial, political and authorized circumstances failure to realize the expected advantages of the proposed small business mixture threats relating to the uncertainty of the projected monetary facts with respect to WMH long term global, regional or area financial and sector disorders impacting the hashish market the improvement, results and enforcement of legislation and restrictions, together with with respect to the cannabis sector WMH’s means to correctly capitalize on new and present cannabis marketplaces, which includes its skill to successfully monetize its solutions in those people markets WMH’s capability to control upcoming advancement WMH’s skill to develop new products and solutions and options, deliver them to industry in a timely fashion, and make enhancements to its platform and WMH’s ability to maintain and mature its two sided electronic community, which includes its capacity to obtain and keep shelling out customers the consequences of competitiveness on WMH’s long run company the means of WMH to concern fairness or equity-linked securities in link with the proposed business mix or in the upcoming the end result of any possible litigation, authorities and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries and those people variables talked about in the ultimate prospectus dated August 7, 2019, Yearly Report on Kind 10-K for the fiscal calendar year finished December 31, 2020 and Quarterly Report on Type 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 and the registration statement on Sort S-4, in each scenario, under the heading “Risk Factors,” and other files submitted, or to be filed, with the Securities and Trade Commission (“SEC”). If any of these threats materialize or our assumptions confirm incorrect, true final results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-seeking statements. There may possibly be supplemental threats that WMH does not presently know or that WMH at present believes are immaterial that could also trigger precise success to differ from all those contained in the forward-hunting statements. In addition, ahead-searching statements replicate WMH’s anticipations, designs or forecasts of upcoming occasions and sights as of the date of this press release. WMH anticipates that subsequent activities and developments will lead to WMH’s assessments to adjust. Having said that, when WMH may well elect to update these ahead-wanting statements at some issue in the long term, WMH specially disclaim any obligation to do so. These forward-wanting statements should really not be relied on as symbolizing WMH’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Appropriately, undue reliance must not be placed upon the forward-on the lookout statements.