Amid the recent downturn in valuations of crypto treasury companies, industry consolidation was inevitable, with the timing being the only uncertainty.
The consolidation has now begun.
Stive (ASST) has reached an agreement to acquire Semler Scientific (SMLR) in an all-stock transaction at a 210% premium, equivalent to $90.52 per share based on Friday’s closing market price, as stated in a press release. Each SMLR share will be exchanged for 21.05 ASST shares.
Eric Semler, Executive Chairman of Semler, is anticipated to join the board of the merged entity.
In addition to this acquisition, Strive has disclosed its purchase of 5,,816 bitcoin BTC $112706.21 for $675 million at an average price of $116047 each.
Combining this with Semler’s existing holdings of approximately 5,000 bitcoins would result in a total holding exceeding 10,900 BTC for the combined company.
This transaction coincides with a period where Semler Scientific shares have been consistently undervalued for weeks and have been trading well below the value of bitcoin on its balance sheet. This situation likely implies negative worth for its medical equipment business due to the bursting bubble surrounding crypto treasuries during this summer season that has placed several companies in similar predicaments.
“This merger solidifies Strive’s standing as a leading Bitcoin treasury firm,” stated Matt Cole, Chairman and CEO of Strive. “We are confident that our alpha-seeking strategies and financial structure position us favorably to outperform bitcoin over time.”
Premarket trading shows ASST shares up by 9.3% at $4.71 while SMLR shares have not traded since news broke but closed at $29.18 on Friday.