Apex Clearing merges with Northern Star Investment Corp. II to become a publicly listed company

By Pavithra R

Apex Clearing Holdings, a digital clearing and custody solutions provider, has announced signing a definitive merger agreement with Northern Star Investment Corp. II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company.

Under the agreement, Apex valued at a total enterprise value of approximately $4.7 bn post-money will become a publicly listed company on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol “APX”.

“Apex combines modern technology, operational excellence, risk management, compliance and discipline to deliver dynamic, seamless aits clients, including online brokerages, traditional wealth managers, wealth-tech, professional traders, and consumer brands, among others, with instant account opening and funding, execution of trades across multiple arrays of asset classes, streamlined digital asset movements, as well as trade settlement and the safekeeping of customer assets.

Apex’s paperless products and solutions serve as the infrastructure for a total addressable market of over $100 tn in assets, of which the firm has approx. $100 bn under custody today. The firm has provided custody for $14bn in new assets. 

Following the closing of the transaction, William Capuzzi, Apex CEO and Apex President, Tricia Rothschild, will continue to serve in their current roles at the combined company. Additionally, Northern Star Chairwoman and CEO Joanna Coles, a creative media and technology executive, will join the combined company’s Board of Directors.

“Apex’s focus on the core tenets of trust and innovation have enabled us to develop a secure and robust platform that provides seamless trading access to retail and institutional investors alike. Custody and clearing is not only a high cost of entry business, but also, more importantly, it is a high cost of failure business, and our clients and their customers depend on Apex to safeguard their assets. We look forward to continuing to fulfill this obligation as the digital infrastructure partner of choice for both established and emerging financial services companies navigating the markets of today and tomorrow,” said Ms Rothschild.

Apex is experiencing drastic growth and momentum, now serving over 200 clients representing more than 13 mn customer accounts, 3.2 mn of which have been opened in 2021 alone, and more than 1 mn new crypto accounts.