XRP treasury SPAC drops 50% in a day ahead of Evernorth’s Nasdaq debut

Evernorth delayed its Nasdaq debut after shares of the SPAC taking the XRP treasury company public lost half their value.

Armada Acquisition Corp. II, which currently trades under the XRPN ticker, closed Tuesday at $19.20, down 50.3% from $38.65 a day earlier, according to data compiled by StockAnalysis. The shares had traded as high as $53 on Oct. 2 after closing at just $10.58 on Sept. 28.

In an Oct. 6 filing, Evernorth said an administrative delay had pushed completion of its merger with Armada to around Oct. 9 from Oct. 7. Trading of the combined company on Nasdaq is now expected to begin around Oct. 12, instead of Oct. 8. Evernorth said the delay is not expected to affect the closing.

Investors now face a longer wait after a speculative surge in Armada shares began reversing just days before the XRP treasury vehicle was due to formally enter public markets.

XRPN’s rally accelerated after Armada shareholders approved the Evernorth transaction on Sept. 30.

The stock closed at $23.43 on Oct. 1, surged as high as $53 the next day and finished that session at $39.42. It remained at $38.65 on Oct. 5 before collapsing to $19.20 Tuesday.

Even after losing half its value, XRPN remained about 81% above its Sept. 28 close, reflecting how quickly investors had bid up the vehicle ahead of the merger.

Some of that volatility may reflect the shrinking supply of Armada shares available to investors seeking exposure before Evernorth becomes the listed company.

Armada reported 23 million shares subject to redemption at June 30, backed by $241.2 million in its trust account, equivalent to about $10.49 per share, according to its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Evernorth subsequently said only about $48 million of trust proceeds are expected to remain for the combined company when the transaction closes.

Using Armada’s June redemption value as a rough guide, that amount would correspond to approximately 4.6 million shares remaining from the original 23 million redeemable shares, implying redemptions approaching 80%.

The companies have not yet disclosed the final redemption count, so that figure remains an estimate rather than the confirmed post-merger public float.