Strategy Raises $715 Million in Europe to Buy More Bitcoin

In brief

Strategy raised $715 million from its STRE offering.
The preferred share was designed for investors in Europe.
STRE’s offering price was lower than initially expected.

Strategy’s latest offering is expected to generate $715 million in proceeds, as it taps foreign markets for the first time, the Bitcoin-buying firm said in a blog post on Friday.

Earlier this week, the Tysons Corner, Virginia-based company unveiled its Perpetual Stream Preferred Stock, or STRE, a preferred share that’s denominated in euros and designed to pay regular dividends. It follows Strategy’s introduction of four other preferred stocks this year.

Unlike Strategy’s other preferred shares, which became accessible to individual investors through retail brokerage Robinhood last month, STRE will be listed on the Euro MTF Luxembourg exchange, which accommodates international issuers.

On Friday, Strategy said proceeds from the offering will go toward everyday expenses, including the acquisition of more Bitcoin. As of Monday, the company held 641,205 Bitcoin, which was worth roughly $64.6 billion, based on current prices.

Strategy shares recently fell 3% to $230 on Friday, according to Yahoo Finance. As Bitcoin’s price has flirted with the $100,000 mark, Strategy’s stock price has fallen 14% over the week.

“Stream is the first digital credit instrument we created for the European market,” Strategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor said in a presentation earlier this week, noting that STRE’s fixed 10% dividend mirrors STRF, which debuted in March.

On Monday, Saylor said that STRE would have a par value of €100 ($116); however, the company said on Friday that the product would be sold to investors at €80 ($93) per STRE. The preferred stock’s dividends are paid in cash and accumulate based on its €100 stated amount, Strategy added.

STRE’s investors have a higher priority claim to Strategy’s assets than common shareholders, but they are outranked by STRF’s holders, as well as those holding Strategy’s debt.

Historically, Strategy has issued common shares to grow its Bitcoin holdings. However, as the company’s stock price has fallen relative to the value of its stockpile, the move’s effectiveness has diminished, and the company has leaned on preferred shares for funding recently.

On Friday, Strategy traded at a slight premium to its Bitcoin holdings, with a market cap of $66 billion. A year ago, on the back of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presidential win, Strategy shares changed hands at nearly three times the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Earlier this week, Strategy said that it had recently bought $45.6 million worth of Bitcoin, after raising $69.5 million through a combination of preferred shares and common stock. In recent months, Strategy has raised more than it spent on Bitcoin, as dividend payments approached.

As many Bitcoin treasury firms’ premiums compress, French semiconductor firm Sequans became the first to sell Bitcoin to pay down its debt. Saylor, famously, has told people that they should never sell their Bitcoin, only borrowing against it when necessary.

On prediction market Myriad, traders penciled in a 95% chance on Friday that Strategy doesn’t sell any Bitcoin before the end of the year, up slightly from 94% a month ago. (Disclaimer: Myriad Markets is a product of Decrypt’s parent company, DASTAN.)