Real estate tech start-up Doma agrees SPAC deal to go public
Real estate tech start-up Doma agrees SPAC deal to go public
By Joshua Franklin
March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. real estate technology company Doma said on Tuesday it has agreed to go public through a merger with blank-check acquisition firm Capitol Investment Corp V in a deal valuing the start-up at around $3 billion, including debt.
It comes amid a boom in the U.S. housing market with home sales last year totaling 5.64 million, the most since 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The housing market is being supported by cheaper mortgages and an exodus from city centers as companies allow employees to work from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic
San Francisco-based Doma sells a system designed to make the closing of real estate transactions more efficient. The company was founded in 2016 and its board members include ex-U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and tech industry veteran Karen Richardson.
"I founded Doma to remove friction and frustration from home-buying and to make closing on a home as simple and efficient as booking a ride or ordering a meal," founder and Chief Executive Max Simkoff said in a statement.
Doma, formally known as States Title, said it expects the deal will provide it with up to $645 million in cash. Capitol Investment Corp V is providing $345 million, with the rest coming from a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction. Investors in the PIPE include BlackRock , Fidelity, and a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp .
Capitol Investment Corp V is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) led by investor Mark Ein. It raised $345 million in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange last year.
"When we met Max and his team and saw what they were doing to disrupt this antiquated title industry, we decided we were going to focus all of our attention on Doma," Ein said in an interview.
(Reporting by Joshua Franklin in Boston; editing by Richard
Pullin)
((joshua.franklin@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-6356; Reuters
Messaging: joshua.franklin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
作者：約書亞·富蘭克林路透3月2日電-美國房地產科技公司Doma週二表示，已同意通過與空白支票收購公司Capitol Investment Corp V合併上市，這筆交易對這家初創企業的估值約為30億美元，其中包括債務.根據全美房地產經紀人協會(National Association Of Realtors)的數據，美國房地產市場繁榮之際，去年房屋銷售總額為564萬套，為2006年以來的最高水平。房地產市場正受到更便宜的抵押貸款和大批離開市中心的人的支撐，因為由於新冠肺炎疫情，公司允許員工在家工作。總部位於舊金山的Doma銷售一種旨在提高房地產交易成交效率的系統。該公司成立於2016年，董事會成員包括前美國財政部長拉里·薩默斯(Larry Summers)和科技行業資深人士凱倫·理查森(Karen Richardson)。創始人兼首席執行官馬克斯·西姆科夫(Max Simkoff)在一份聲明中表示：“我成立DOMA是為了消除購房過程中的摩擦和挫折感，讓結賬變得像預訂順風車或訂餐一樣簡單高效。”DOMA的正式名稱是States Title，該公司表示，預計這筆交易將為其提供高達6.45億美元的現金。Capitol Investment Corp V將提供3.45億美元，其餘資金來自私募股權(PIPE)交易。這條管道的投資者包括貝萊德(BlackRock)、富達(Fidelity)和軟銀集團(SoftBank Group Corp.)的一家子公司。Capitol Investment Corp V是一家由投資者Mark Ein領導的特殊目的收購公司(SPAC)。它去年在紐約證券交易所(New York Stock Exchange)首次公開募股(IPO)中籌集了3.45億美元。Ein在一次採訪中説：“當我們見到Max和他的團隊，看到他們正在做什麼來顛覆這個過時的遊戲產業時，我們決定把所有的注意力都集中在Doma身上。”(Joshua Franklin在波士頓報道；Richard編輯普林)(joshoa.frklin@thomsonreurs.com；+1 646-223-6356；路透社消息：joshua.franklin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。