Could be a significant acquisition for theCompany") (CSE:VYGR; OTCQB:VYGVF; FRA:UCD2), operator of U.S. digital asset broker Voyager and the Ethos Universal Wallet, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Circle Invest, the retail digital asset business from Circle Internet Financial, Inc. This transaction adds more than 40,000 retail accounts to Voyager's customer base, making it one of the largest digital-asset-only agency brokers in the U.S., servicing over 200,000 global users across its platforms. The majority of Circle Invest customers are expected to be converted to the Voyager Platform by the end of March of this year.
"This product line acquisition signifies a tremendous development for Voyager as we welcome a substantial number of new users to our platform," said Stephen Ehrlich, Co-Founder and CEO of Voyager. "This transaction also helps us deliver on our promise to investors, providing regulated brokerage services and resources to as many users as possible in the digital asset marketplace. Going forward, we remain committed to building best-in-class features for the Voyager Platform to empower investors and bring into the mainstream the most revolutionary asset class to date."
The acquisition gives Circle Invest customers access to expanded digital assets and new robust investment and trading features from the Voyager suite of products and services. Additionally, Voyager will be integrating features of Circle's new stablecoin platform service into the Voyager Platform.
Circle Invest's retail customers will now also have access to Voyager's unique brokerage services, which include commission-free trading of more than 30 crypto assets, lock-up free interest yield on popular coins, digital transfers, secure omnibus custody wallets and portfolio management tools such as limit orders, news and alerts. Circle Invest's popular "collections" feature, which allows customers to buy baskets of assets grouped by their attributes and weighted according to their market capitalization, will now be integrated into the Voyager Platform. With this feature, investors utilizing Voyager can gain exposure to the best-performing asset class of the last decade, while maintaining a diversified digital portfolio.
"We're very happy to be able to provide Circle Invest customers with a broader depth of retail investment features through the transaction with Voyager," said Rachel Mayer, Director of Product Management at Circle. "This transition comes at a time when Circle is launching new platform services and products for businesses around the world to help them bring the benefits of stablecoins into their products and grow global commerce in new and innovative ways."
As part of the transaction, Circle and Voyager will partner on strategic business initiatives, such as delivering fast, global, low-cost payments to the combined Voyager customer base. In addition, Voyager will leverage Circle's USDC and platform products to solidify its treasury management infrastructure and expand internationally.
"Through this partnership, we can each maintain focus on our core missions and better execute on our shared vision of bringing blockchain technology and crypto assets to the masses," added Mr. Ehrlich. "We look forward to integrating all of the Circle stablecoin platform services into our service offerings to better serve our customers."
As consideration for the transaction, Voyager will issue common shares to Circle representing an approximate 4% ownership stake in the Company, post-closing, and reimbursement of certain costs incurred by Circl