Strive seeks additional $150 million fundraising…expands Bitcoin purchases

Asset manager Strive, which has promoted a “strategic Bitcoin reserve,” is moving to raise additional funds. The proceeds are expected to be used for Bitcoin purchases and debt repayment.

According to The Block on the 21st (local time), Strive said it is pursuing fundraising of up to $150 million through a secondary equity offering. The move is a follow-on raise after the company’s offering in November last year was met with strong demand.

Strive plans to use the funds raised to buy more Bitcoin, repay convertible notes issued by its subsidiary Semler Scientific, and pay down a portion of borrowings from Coinbase Credit. The convertible notes carry an interest rate of 4.25% and mature in 2030, and the company is also holding one-on-one negotiations with some bondholders on exchanging notes for shares.

Previously, Strive raised about $160 million in November last year by issuing a floating-rate perpetual preferred stock dubbed “SATA.” SATA pays cash dividends at an annualized rate of about 12.25% and trades alongside the existing common stock ASST. SATA shares recently topped $100 intraday.

Strive is an asset manager founded in 2022 by Vivek Ramaswamy and runs a range of products including exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and investment trusts, with about $2.3 billion in assets under management. The company describes itself as “the first Bitcoin treasury company among listed asset managers.”

Strive previously decided to acquire Bitcoin treasury company Semler Scientific through an all-stock exchange, and the deal was approved earlier this month. However, ASST shares have recently plunged and are now trading below $0.90, reflecting the impact of a 1-for-20 reverse stock split carried out alongside the merger approval.

After the merger, the Strive group holds about 12,797 Bitcoins, placing it in the top 15 by corporate holdings.