Forge Global, a private securities marketplace serving accredited investors, listed its shares on the NYSE today as part of a SPAC deal.
As was previously reported, Forge Global traded under the ticker FRGE. The listing was due to a combination with sponsor Motive Capital Corp. During the first day of trading, Forge Global rocketed higher by a whopping 59%. Forge Global opened at $11.06/share but closed at $16.05/share after hitting a mid-day high of more than $26/share.
While the overall market had a solid up-day, Forge Global’s rise outpaced the broader market gains. First-day trading volume showed 3.57 million in shares traded.
While it was not immediately clear as to why shares jumped so dramatically and one day’s trading does not make a company, Forge Global has reported solid growth with total trading volume in 2021 of $3.2 billion an increase of 71% versus Pro-forma trading volume in 2020.
As public markets have become more of an exit opportunity for early investors and the cost to register shares, and become a reporting company has increased dramatically, Forge Global is one of a handful of trading marketplaces that is well-positioned to leverage the growing private securities market.
The SPAC deal provides Forge Global with gross cash proceeds of $215.6 million to build out its marketplace or perhaps move into other jurisdictions. Forge Global has stated that by listing shares on the NYSE, public investors have an opportunity to invest in Forge as a proxy for investing in the private markets.
As well, Forge Global could look to provide liquidity for other securities exemptions like Reg A+ – an exemption that allows issuers to raise up to $75 million, or perhaps securities issued under Reg CF – both options allow for retail investor participation.
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