Rumble Inc, a Canadian video platform, announced its intention to go public on Wednesday by combining with blank-check firm CF Acquisition Corp VI for an initial enterprise value of $2.1 billion.
After the transaction closes in the second quarter of 2022, the merged firm will be known as Rumble Inc. and plans to list on Nasdaq.
Shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker CFVI until the transaction is completed. The acquisition has been unanimously authorized by the boards of directors of Rumble and CFVI.
Consolidating with CF Acquisition is the next step in Rumble's mission to take on "Big Tech" as an alternative to YouTube.
"Rumble is now laying the groundwork for a new infrastructure that will not be bullied by cancel culture," Rumble founder and chief executive Chris Pavlovski told Fox News.
"We are a movement committed to not stifling, censoring, or punishing creativity and expression... We're on a quest to reintroduce the internet to its roots by reestablishing its freedom and openness,"Pavlovski said.
Rumble expects to receive approximately $400 million in cash from the transaction, the business said in a statement.
After the transaction closes, Pavlovski will retain voting power.
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is acting as financial and capital markets advisor to CFVI. Bennett Jones LLP and Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP and are acting as legal advisors to CFVI.
Guggenheim Securities, LLC serves as Rumble's exclusive financial advisor. Rumble is represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and DLA Piper Canada LLP.
Rumble, created in 2013, surpassed 36 million monthly active users in the third quarter of 2021, a dramatic growth from the 1.6 million average monthly users in the same quarter last year.
The company experienced tremendous growth in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, as major platforms increased their repression of conservative voices and prohibited publications critical of Democrats in the name of combating "misinformation."
The company has attracted some prominent conservatives to its platform, most notably former President Donald Trump, who was banned from Google-owned YouTube, as well as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, following a throng of his supporters' Jan. 6 attack on the United States Capitol.
The Toronto-based company - which will soon make Florida its main headquarters - received a significant boost in May from billionaire Peter Thiel and venture capital firm Narya Capital, founded by author J.D. Vance, who is presently running for the United States Senate in Ohio.
