Animoca Brands Suspends Merger Deal that Would Have Taken It Public
Quick Take
- Animoca Brands and Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group have suspended talks on a proposed reverse merger that would have taken Animoca public.
- The merger plan was first announced in November 2025.
- Animoca said it remains committed to relisting on a major exchange, while chairman Yat Siu said “corporate agility” now takes precedence over pursuing the merger.
Animoca Brands, a major investor in both web3 and AI startups, and Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group have suspended talks on a proposed reverse merger that would have taken Animoca public.
In a Tuesday announcement, Animoca said that the two companies mutually agreed that the time required to close the deal no longer aligns with their short- and medium-term goals, after reviewing projected timelines and "evolving market conditions."
Yat Siu, Animoca's co-founder and executive chairman, said that the "corporate agility must take precedence" over pursuing the Currenc merger.
"As we advance the comprehensive audit processes required to meet the rigorous compliance standards of a major public exchange, we will continue to pursue optimal routes to a public listing," Siu said in the Tuesday statement.
Animoca added that it "remains fully committed to relisting on a major public exchange," and that the two companies may consider resuming merger discussions "if and when conditions permit."
The reverse merger plan, first announced in November 2025, would have seen Currenc acquire Animoca through an Australian scheme of arrangement, leaving Animoca shareholders with a collective 95% stake in the combined company, according to its statement last year.
Ambition To Relist
Once traded on the Australian Securities Exchange, Animoca was delisted from the ASX in 2020 following scrutiny of its involvement in crypto-related activities.
In 2022, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission convicted and fined Animoca for failing to lodge 2019-2021 annual reports and some half-year reports.
Animoca has since been working through the backlog of audited financial statements. In July 2026, it published an audited report for fiscal 2023, as part of its efforts to return to the public market.
"The company is also actively progressing the preparation of its FY2024 audited financial statements," Animoca said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Currenc Group Inc. is a Singapore-based fintech focused on AI and tokenization solutions. Earlier this month, it announced an agreement with Mint to bring the latter's Nasdaq-listed shares onchain.
