By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Shares of SeaChange International Inc (NASDAQ:SEAC) soared as much as 80% Wednesday on the back of news it will merge with Triller Hold Co LLC, a.k.a. TrillerVerz to take it public. Shares have pulled back to be up 40% as of writing.
Triller is a video-sharing social networking service. However, it has also streamed sporting events such as boxing under its Triller Fight Club banner and music events under "Verzuz." For example, the fight between legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr was shown on the platform.
The proposed merger is expected to result in a value of the combined company reaching approximately $5 billion.
TrillerVerz told investors it is positioned to become a leading AI-powered social media platform. Once the deal has been completed, SeaChange will change its name to "TrillerVerz Corp," with the ticker symbol changing from "SEAC" to "ILLR."
The boards of both companies have approved the merger, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. The combined company will be led by Triller CEO, Mahi de Silva, who will also become Chairman of the Board.
De Silva explained: "We believe that combining with SeaChange accelerates our advertising and marketing capabilities by extending our reach to cable, satellite, and OTT media. We believe the proposed Business Combination will enable investors to participate in the expected growth of TrillerVerz and enable TrillerVerz access to the capital markets, which we believe will help accelerate growth."