Former Hedge Funder Turned SPAC Maker Seeks to Bring NFT Platform Infinite Assets Public
Posted on 12/13/2021
Miami-based Infinite Assets, Inc. (InfiniteWorld) is a metaverse infrastructure platform that enables brands to create, monetize, and drive consumer engagement with digital content. Infinite Assets is an NFT (non-fungible token) platform. Aries I Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: RAM) is a special purpose acquisition company. Infinite Assets agreed to go public through a reverse merger with Aries I Acquisition Corporation. The deal is expected to eanble InfiniteWorld to have a pro forma equity value of approximately US$ 700 million. This is assuming no redemptions by Aries’ public shareholders. Aries completed its approximately US$ 145 million initial public offering in May 2021.
This SPAC is not to be confused with Ares Management. The SPAC is backed by Thane Ritchie an investor in startups. Thane Ritchie established Ritchie Capital Markets in 1994 and then Ritchie Capital Management in 1997. After the financial crisis in 2008, the hedge fund unwound most of its positions and returned to being a family office.
Assuming no trust account redemptions by Aries’ public shareholders, existing InfiniteWorld stockholders will represent 74.5% of the pro forma ownership of the combined company at close and up to 81% based on achievement of the maximum earn-out.
In addition, InfiniteWorld owns cryptocurrencies valued at approximately US$ 93 million based on recent prices on Coinbase. All InfiniteWorld stockholders will roll 100% of their equity holdings into the combined company.
InfiniteWorld currently has 130 employees globally and has partnered with over 75 brands and creators since its founding. Current investors in InfiniteWorld include Morgan Creek Digital, GSR, Wintermute, Blockchain Coinvestors, Bill Shihara, among others. InfiniteWorld recently combined with one of its key strategic partners, DreamView, Inc., a globally scalable technology company bringing creative strategy and content solutions to brands around the world. Founded in 2016 by the same visionaries who pioneered computer-generated imagery (CGI) technologies at Lucasfilm and Disney, DreamView’s visual effects and 3D artforms have been leveraged in major blockbuster films, major brand campaigns, sporting events, and other major consumer engagement events.
According to submitted documents to the SEC, the SPAC company plans to make money through platform and subscription fees, content & production fees, and NFT activity fees. NFT activity fees incldue a percentage of gross sales for every NFT on the InfiniteWorld or on partner marketplaces. They also seek to capture a percentage of gross sales for all content created on the Pholio service. For 2021, the company projected revenue of US$ 1 million in content and production fees. The Metaverse introduces a new way for brands to be able to leverage ad spend to interact with their customers. NFTs provide the opportunity to own assets and to verify their authenticity
