Stablecoin Giant Circle Files for IPO on NYSE

Circle Internet Group, the firm behind stablecoin USDC, has filed for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, the firm said on Tuesday.

Circle is offering 24 million of its class A shares, out of which 9.6 million is being offered by the firm, while 14.4 million shares are being offered by selling stakeholders. It also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 3.6 million shares.

The IPO price is expected to be between $24 and $26 per share. Based on the higher end of the range, Circle could raise almost $250 million, while the selling stakeholders could get nearly $375 million for their stake.

Cathie Wood’s ARK has expressed interest in buying $150 million worth of shares from the IPO, the USDC-issuer said in a filing.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment have indicated an interest in buying $150 million shares of the USDC-issuer from the IPO, Circle said in a filing.

J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC are acting as joint lead active bookrunners for the offering. The stablecoin giant will trade under the ticker ‘CRCL.”

The Jeremy Allaire-led firm has been trying to go public for almost 4 years. In 2021, Circle tried to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which later fell through.

In April, the firm filed for an S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to get listed. However, it was later reported that the USDC-issuer was looking to delay its IPO.

Last week, Fortune reported that Circle also explored a $5 billion sale instead of going through the IPO route. It was also reported that listed crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) and payments firm Ripple, which also has its RLUSD stablecoin, were among the suitors.

Read more: Circle Has Explored Potential $5B Sale to Coinbase or Ripple Instead of IPO: Report

UPDATE (May 27, 11:47 UTC): Adds additional details on Circle’s IPO history.
UPDATE (May 27, 12:50 UTC): Adds details on ARK

UPDATE (May 27, 12:53 UTC): Adds details on ARK expressing interest in buying Circle shares from the IPO.