Bitcoin minnow Smarter Web Company joins ranks of UK’s most valuable businesses
The Smarter Web Company has joined the ranks of the most valuable listed businesses in Britain after the firm’s stock rocketed in a matter of days.
The Aquis-listed firm now has a market cap of £720m, after having more than tripled in the past week.
That means it would now comfortably rank in the middle of the FTSE 250, ahead of established finance groups such as Close Brothers, Jupiter Fund Management and Paypoint.
Smarter Web Company last week raised £29.3m in a new share offer, with £1.5m raised via a subscription and £27.8m via an accelerated bookbuild with institutional investors, with an offer price of 180p.
The company has now raised funds five times since its IPO in April. It is already comfortably the most valuable constituent of the Aquis exchange.
After the raise, Smarter Web Company’s stock shot up again on Monday, climbing from 180p to 292p. The shares rose another 22 per cent in early trade on Tuesday, to 355p.
This comes on the back of the firm’s wholehearted embrace of cryptocurrencies, through which it has built a significant crypto holding via its policy of accepting payment in Bitcoin. Smarter Web Company has adopted a “Bitcoin Treasury Policy” under which its reserves are held in the digital asset, emulating a model successfully tried by US firm MicroStrategy.
‘Pioneering approach’
“The company believes that Bitcoin forms a core part of the future of the global financial system and as the company explores opportunities through organic growth and corporate acquisitions is pioneering the adoption of a Bitcoin Treasury Policy into its strategy,” Smarter Web Company said.
The firm now owns 242.34 Bitcoins with a market value of just under £20m. Much of that has been purchased over the past 30 days.
The company’s founder, ex Hargreaves Lansdown head of digital Andrew Webley, controls a 13.4 per cent stake in the business worth £94m.
“By taking a pioneering approach to treasury management using digital assets, including Bitcoin, we believe we offer investors an excellent opportunity,” Webley said.
“In addition to organic growth, the company will progress an acquisition strategy targeting other businesses with a view to growing its number of clients and / or recurring revenue,” the firm said.