In Brief:
- Animoca Brands has put merger talks with Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group on ice, citing timing misalignments.
- Current market conditions and the audits still required were judged by both sides to be working against their strategic goals.
- First made public in November 2025, the deal would have handed Animoca a path onto the Nasdaq.
Merger talks on hold
Animoca Brands (official site) has shelved its reverse-merger plans involving Currenc Group, a Nasdaq-traded company. The move comes after the two sides took stock of their respective timelines and of prevailing market conditions. The suspension was made public by Animoca on September 22.
Under the original design, Currenc would have absorbed Animoca via a share exchange, a structure that could have left Animoca shareholders holding roughly 95% of the combined company. Completion had been pencilled in for late 2026, subject to a range of approvals.
Audit delays
Audits that have yet to be wrapped up may well have played a part in the talks stalling, though neither side has confirmed that as the chief cause. Animoca has already published financial statements covering fiscal 2022 and 2023, while work on the 2024 audit is still underway.
So long as those audits remain outstanding, prolonging the negotiations would have meant building plans around a timeline nobody could pin down. Executive chairman and co-founder Yat Siu underlined how much the company values room to manoeuvre, saying, “our corporate agility must take precedence.”
Currenc’s position
Currenc Group, for its part, has calculations of its own to weigh. The company disclosed in a September 21 filing that the exclusivity window tied to the merger had run out before final terms were agreed. Pausing the talks leaves Currenc freer to look at alternative financing routes.
At the time of its announcement, the transaction was still non-binding, with due diligence and shareholder sign-off yet to come.
Market context
Animoca left the Australian Securities Exchange in March 2020, delisted as its business tilted further toward crypto, and a tie-up with Currenc would have opened a door back to public markets. Shareholders would have gained better market access along with the prospect of capital growth.
While it works through these hurdles, the company is also steering more of its attention toward AI products and institutional digital asset services. Its September investor update put unaudited FY2025 bookings at $173 million and pointed to ongoing cost-cutting.