Bullish to Acquire Equiniti for $4.2B; Shares Rise

Bullish agreed to acquire Equiniti in a $4.2 billion stock-and-debt deal that assumes $1.85 billion of Equiniti debt and issues $2.35 billion of Bullish shares. The stock component is priced at $38.48 per share, based on Bullish’s 30-day volume-weighted average price through May 4. Siris Capital, which bought Equiniti in 2021, will receive the agreed consideration and will hold two seats on the merged company’s board. The deal is expected to close in January 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Equiniti is the record-keeper for nearly 3,000 public companies, manages relationships with more than 20 million verified shareholders and processes about $500 billion in payments annually. Its services include share issuance, dividend distribution and shareholder recordkeeping. Bullish operates a crypto exchange listed on the New York Stock Exchange and describes the acquisition as a way to offer blockchain-based issuance, custody and transfer services for traditional securities.

Management projects pro forma revenue of roughly $1.3 billion for 2026 and more than $500 million in adjusted EBITDA after capital expenditures. Company forecasts call for 6% to 8% annual revenue growth from 2027 through 2029, and they estimate that revenue from tokenization and blockchain services could add about 20% growth during that period. The merged firm is targeting an EBITDA less capex margin above 50% by 2029.

Bullish shares rose after the announcement, trading as high as $48.93 earlier in the session and around $46.33 at one point, an increase of about 14% from the prior close. The transaction will require regulatory review because it combines a regulated transfer agent and payments processor with a public crypto exchange operator.

If regulators approve the deal, the combined company would offer both legacy transfer-agent services and blockchain-based products to corporate issuers, investors and intermediaries. The filing cites the growth of stablecoins, which it says have exceeded $320 billion in market capitalization, as part of the demand case for blockchain-based settlement and custody services.

Dan Kramer, chief executive of Equiniti, said in a statement that the transaction strengthens the firm’s ability to support clients that rely on resilient and trusted infrastructure. Frank Baker, co-founder and managing partner at Siris Capital, described the sale as consistent with the firm’s strategy of backing technology-enabled services businesses undergoing market transformation.