Strive, the Bitcoin treasury company co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, said Monday it agreed to acquire Semler Scientific in an all-stock transaction that would combine two of the most active corporate buyers of bitcoin. The boards of both companies approved the deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions, according to a statement.
Under the terms, each Semler share will convert into 21.05 Strive Class A shares. That’s an implied 210% premium at about $90.52 per Semler share, based on Sept. 19 closing prices. Strive pitched a “preferred-equity-only” leverage model to avoid debt-maturity risk, and said it aims to grow bitcoin per share faster than spot BTC over time.
Ramaswamy’s Bitcoin treasury firm also disclosed it has bought 5,816 bitcoin for its own balance sheet at an average price of $116,047, a purchase totaling $675 million and bringing its holdings to 5,886 BTC. Semler has been one of the fastest-growing bitcoin adopters among U.S. public companies this year, adding to its stack via equity and debt raises as well as cash flow. As of July, the firm held over 5,000 BTC, according to The Block’s data dashboard.
The combined company “would own over 10,900 BTC” before any additional financing, Strive said. Post-close, Strive’s management and board will remain, while Semler’s executive chairman, Eric Semler, is expected to join the combined board.
The merger has been announced in a market that has already funneled more than $20 billion into digital asset treasury (DAT) companies this year, a breakneck pace that investors now say is shifting from simply raising capital to execution and consolidation, according to The Funding Newsletter by The Block’s Yogita Khatri.
Premiums over net crypto asset value have compressed, leaving less headroom to finance fresh coin buys with equity alone and pushing treasuries to get creative with structures like preferred stock, PIPEs, and stock-for-stock tie-ups.
That reset is showing up in the public tape. Roughly one in four listed bitcoin treasury firms now trade below the value of their BTC holdings, limiting accretive issuance unless companies can grow bitcoin-per-share faster than dilution. Against that backdrop, an all-stock deal that instantly scales coin holdings — and promises a “preferred-equity-only” capital stack — may fit the playbook investors are rewarding.
Strive shares on Nasdaq (ASST) fell over 7% after the news, while Semler stock (SMLR) surged over 20%, Yahoo Finance data shows.
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