MoonPay to acquire $8.7B private-securities venue

MoonPay signed a definitive agreement on Sept. 23 to acquire North Capital Investment Technology, including its PPEX alternative trading system. Both companies’ boards approved the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory clearance and other customary closing conditions.

The firms did not disclose a purchase price or a firm closing date and warned there is no guarantee the acquisition will be completed.

North Capital provides technology and regulated services for private securities issuers, intermediaries, fund managers and investors. Its services include investor onboarding, transaction processing, custody and secondary trading. North Capital Private Securities Corporation, a subsidiary, is a registered broker-dealer and operates PPEX, where eligible securities can trade outside a national stock exchange. The SEC listed the firm and PPEX on its June 30 alternative trading systems roster.

If the deal closes, MoonPay would add an operating securities venue and a brokerage business to its payments infrastructure, combining private-securities capabilities with its systems for moving money between traditional and digital assets. North Capital’s investment-advisory business would join the combined group.

The announcement did not explain whether or how MoonPay customers will gain access to North Capital services or PPEX. There is no launch date, eligibility criteria, product terms or timeline for integrating PPEX into MoonPay’s platform. Company materials described the regulated entities and trading system as existing capabilities and noted that customer access would require a separate announcement outlining which securities could be offered, through which entity and to which customers.

PPEX provides infrastructure for secondary trading in private and other exempt securities and supports trading in tokenized securities alongside traditional private placements. Regulatory approval is the immediate milestone before any integration or customer offering can proceed.

Until closing, North Capital will continue to operate independently as the subject of a proposed transaction.