In an interview with The Edge Singapore, Hosp recalls how he and Chua whittled down the list of potential suitors to just one after a few rounds of meetings and negotiations. A term sheet valuing the deal at US$1.5 billion ($2.08 billion) was even signed.
In June last year, Singapore-based decentralised finance (DeFi) platform Cake DeFi started preparing for a public listing. The goal was to gain more customer and investor confidence within the traditional finance space, as the company expands its DeFi services and applications platform.
The company’s Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) audit took about six months. By the end of the year, rumours had spread that the company was planning to list. Interested parties such as special purpose acquisition companies (spacs) then started approaching Cake co-founders Dr Julian Hosp and U-Zyn Chua to suggest mergers and eventual public listing.
