Toronto-based investment manager 3iQ Corp. is seeking to raise additional funding through undertaking a treasury offering for its publicly-traded Bitcoin Fund (QBTC.U), trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange .
A statement released today detailing the investment breakdown says the fund managed by 3iq is selling up to 1,050,000 Class A units to raise approximately C$25,200,000, or roughly $19.3 million.
The Class A Units will be offered at a price of C$24.00 per unit, a more favorable price than its yesterday’s close on the TSX at C$30.38. The 3iQ’s closed-end bitcoin fund initially offered Class A and Class F units at $10 each. To induce more and more buyers, there was no limit on minimum purchases.
“The Class A Unit offering price was determined so as to be non-dilutive to the most recently calculated net asset value per Class A Unit on November 5, 2020, plus the per unit Agent’s fee and the expenses of the offering,” the company explains.
In spite of being traded on the Canadian exchange and operated by Canadian investment fund manager 3iq Corp, the value of the investment is denominated in U.S. dollars.
3iQ already manages two private investment funds: 3iQ Bitcoin Trust and the 3iQ Global Cryptoasset Fund, which started as a private placement available only to accredited and institutional investors in Canada. Earlier this year, 3iQ announced the merger of 3iQ Bitcoin Trust into The Bitcoin Fund, and are distributing class B units of the fund as qualified under the prospectus.
The exchange-traded products provide stockholders with direct exposure to bitcoin value. The non-redeemable investment fund further aims to achieve capital appreciation through a long-term holding strategy.
Following an appeal, 3iQ has previously secured approval from the Ontario Securities Commission to offer its Bitcoin fund to Canadian investors. In September, it floated its Bitcoin Fund on the Gibraltar Stock Exchange, a move aimed at broadening its investor base outside its original listing scope in Canada.
To lend support to the fund, 3iQ said it addressed the questions of pricing, custody, audit, and public interest issues in a regulated investment fund. It acts as the investment and portfolio manager of the fund, while New York-based crypto exchange, Gemini Trust will fulfil the functions of the custodian of the bitcoins held in the fund.
Furthermore, 3iQ partnered with asset manager, VanEck to develop a Bitcoin benchmark in partnership with VanEck’s MV Index Solutions, a regulated index provider in developing cryptocurrency indices and data series.
