Circle’s taken one of its final steps to going public.
On Wednesday, the stablecoin issuer announced the pricing of its initial public offering. Shares of the upsized IPO are expected to price at $31. The issuer is going public on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday.
The firm now expects to offer 34 million shares. Bloomberg first reported the news.
The announcement comes just days after Circle filed yet another amendment to its S-1, upsizing the offering and the price. The filing noted the company intended to offer 32 million Class A common stock in its public markets debut, a jump up from its initial plan to offer 24 million shares.
Circle said Monday it expected the offering price to be between $27 to $28, an increase from the original range of $24 and $26.
The changes in the Monday filing marked “a crystal-clear signal of strong demand” among institutions, Architect Partners founder Eric Risley told Blockworks earlier this week.
Read more: Why an acquisition of Circle may be off the table as its IPO approaches
The stablecoin issuer noted that Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest showed interest in buying roughly $150 million worth of shares. A Bloomberg report last week indicated that BlackRock might also look to acquire Circle shares.
Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, told Blockworks yesterday that Circle is positioning itself as a “boring is beautiful trade” for institutions seeking crypto exposure without balance sheet risk.
“Retail may find it harder to latch on,” Sigel added. “Circle doesn’t have the same volatility, beta, meme potential or brand recognition as Coinbase.”
Read more: Why it’s ‘difficult to predict’ how Circle’s NYSE listing plays out
Circle was expected to debut on the public markets this week after filing its original S-1 amendment last week.
Jay Woods, chief global strategist for Freedom Capital Markets, previously told Blockworks that he wouldn’t be surprised if the company picked Thursday for its debut. There’s not a set reason for it, but it has become a popular choice for IPOs over a Wednesday debut.
As Circle was finalizing its IPO, which it officially announced at the beginning of last year, there were rumors of a potential acquisition by either Coinbase or Ripple. However, Woods said that the S-1 amendment pretty much put the talks of acquisitions to rest, at least for now.
Ben Strack contributed reporting.
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