Acorns Grow, the investing startup backed by celebrities including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Ashton Kutcher, agreed to go public by merging with a blank-check firm.
The deal with Pioneer Merger values Acorns at $2.2 billion, the companies said in a statement on Thursday. The transaction also includes a $450 million PIPE, or a private investment in public equity.
Founded in 2014, Acorns offers an app with investing and banking products for relatively low monthly fees to more than 4 million subscribers. The firm said Thursday it now expects to jump to 10 million paying customers by 2025.
Noah Kerner will continue as CEO after the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2021. Citigroup served as an adviser to Pioneer as well as the exclusive placement agent on the PIPE. Moelis advised Acorns.
“Going public will help elevate our story, introduce many more people to the power of compounding and financial wellness, and bring financial literacy to the mainstream,” Kerner said in the statement.
Pioneer is led by chairman Jonathan Christodoro and co-presidents Rick Gerson and Oscar Salazar. Christodoro is a member of the board of directors of companies including PayPal, while Salazar is the co-founder of Uber.
