One of the most eagerly anticipated stock market debuts is nearly upon us. Social Finance, or SoFi, will finally become a publicly traded company on Tuesday, June 1. This follows Friday's completion of the merger of SoFi -- still technically a private company -- with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings V (IPOE).
The resulting entity is to be named SoFi Technologies, which will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SOFI.
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As expected, Social Capital Hedosophia shareholders on Thursday approved the merger between SoFi and their company. Social Capital Hedosophia is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), an entity that basically exists to bring a privately held company onto the stock market. This has become a popular alternative to the traditional initial public offering (IPO), typically a rather involved and expensive process.
Current SoFi CEO Anthony Noto will occupy the same role at SoFi Technologies, along with his management team.
In the company's press release heralding its new chapter in life, Noto was quoted as saying:
All of us at SoFi are humbled to reach this significant milestone in our journey of building a generational company, and we are grateful for the countless individuals who have contributed to advancing our mission of empowering everyone to achieve financial independence to realize their ambitions.
SoFi certainly has momentum going for it in the days leading up to its new listing. Last week, the company released its first-quarter results, with net revenue coming in far ahead of its own expectations at $216 million. Similarly, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were in the black to the tune of $4.1 million; the company had expected anywhere from a loss of $5 million to a thin profit of $1 million.
