Palihapitiya SPACs Tap SoFi to Give Retail Traders IPO Access

(Bloomberg) -- A group of blank-check companies run by venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya have tapped SoFi Technologies Inc. to help run their initial public offerings, in a bid to make the sales more accessible to retail investors.

The four SPACs, including Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp. I, II and IV, have added SoFi‘s online brokerage as an underwriter to their stock sales, according to regulatory filings published on Wednesday. Each SPAC expects to offer 5% of its Class A shares via the SoFi platform, the filings said.

“This is one of the first initial public offerings to be included on the SoFi platform and there may be risks,” the blank-check firms said in the filings.

SoFi, run by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. dealmaker Anthony Noto, has said in recent months that it would seek ways to make IPOs more available to retail investors. Banks underwriting the deals typically sell the stock to their clients, which are largely institutional buyers. SoFi itself merged with another Palihapitiya SPAC this year.

Investors buying shares of the new SPACs have to hold them for 120 days, or be subject to a $50 fee for the first sale, and $5 more for additional sales, the filings show.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.