Better.com Shares List On Nasdaq After Company Goes Public

Better.com, an online mortgage lending firm, has debuted at the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company’s stock is trading under the ticker symbols BETR and BETRW. Better.com has gone public after a merger with SPAC Aurora Acquisition Corp.

Better.com goes public

The new public entity created through this SPAC merger deal is known as Better Hone & Finance Holding Company. The deal has unlocked around $565 million in new capital by going public.

The deal includes a $528 million convertible note from SoftBank and additional equity from other firms. A report by the Financial Times said that Better.com’s CEO, Vishal Garg, had guaranteed any possible losses that SoftBank might suffer if it plans to sell the debt. If Garg is required to meet the terms of the guarantee, he could sell Better shares, triggering a dip.

Nevertheless, the new capital from the public listing might improve the company’s financial strength. During the year’s first quarter, the company reported a net loss of $89.9 million. The company also reduced its workforce by around 91% for 18 months.

Better.com has not been performing well in recent years, given that in Q1 2022, it posted a net loss of $327.7 million. The company has been struggling because of the high mortgage interest rates and the slowdown across the national housing market.

The company has also been under much controversy in recent years. It has made negative headlines because of a poor manner of conducting layoffs, poor employee treatment, financial missteps, and the departure of top executives, among other allegations.

The former CEO of Aurora, Arnaud Massenet, now serves as a director at Better Home & Finance. Massenet noted that he was pleased with Aurora’s role in making Better a public company.

“Through our business combination with Better, we have now successfully fulfilled that aim and over the past two years, Aurora has worked to deliver over $1.3 billion to Better’s balance sheet. We believe this transaction will deliver long-term value for our shareholders, and we look forward to being part of the next stage of this journey,” Massenet said.

Acquisition deal will benefit the company

Better.com’s CEO noted that the company had considered going public for several years. As such, the additional $550 million in funding from SoftBank will enable the firm to expand its operations and secure cheaper rates for customers. The company is also working on making the loan processing times faster.

Garg admitted that Better.com was still losing money because of the adverse climate in the mortgage market. He added that the housing supply was dropped than expected. As such, the company would work on refinancing mortgages.

Garg also said that the company has been forced to pivot its operations. 90% of its mortgages were now purchase mortgages, focusing on factors that mattered to clients, such as certainty, ease of use, and speed. However, the company had incurred $1 billion worth of recurring costs to deliver these offerings.