Armada SPAC Shares Surge 273% Ahead of Evernorth Merger

Shares of Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC preparing to merge with Evernorth, surged nearly 273% in just one week, ahead of the expected merger completion on October 7. Trading under the ticker XRPN, Armada’s shares closed Friday at $39.42, up 68% for the day and 273% for the week. The stock briefly hit $53 during the week and gained an additional 9.5% in premarket trading on Monday.

The sharp rise in shares comes as investors anticipate the merger, which could lead to a significant reduction in the number of shares in circulation. Armada’s trust account held $241.2 million at the end of June, but only $48 million is expected to remain after investors redeem their shares. CoinDesk estimates that about 80% of the funds will be returned, though the final number of redeemed shares is still unknown.

Evernorth, which plans to hold 473 million XRP at closing, expects the merger to finalize on October 7, with trading to begin the following day. The XRP holdings, valued at $714 million at Monday’s price of $1.51, are part of a financing package worth approximately $300 million. However, Evernorth’s existing 84.4 million XRP, acquired at an average cost of $2.54, are currently worth about $127 million, still below their original purchase price.