SoFi, the 10-year-old financial services company that started as a lender and expanded to banking, investing, and mortgages is going public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) associated with investor Chamath Palihapitiya, multiple sources reported.

Why should we care?
SoFi has been rumored to be in the process of going public via SPAC since December. A SPAC raises funds in an IPO with the aim of acquiring a private company, which in turn becomes public as a result of the merger. The merger values SoFi at $8.65B. In a tweet announcing the move, Palihapitiya praised SoFi for its “winner take most” potential in the banking and fintech sphere. He also recognized the company’s disruptive potential in banking, comparing it to Amazon. “What I did was systematically try to future out what was broken in banking, and try to figure out which company was the best representative of the solution people wanted,” Palihapitiya told CNBC. SoFi’s decision to merge with a SPAC to go public, according to CEO Anthony Noto, was taken because of deal certainty. “With the secular acceleration in digital-first financial services offerings, SoFi is the only company providing a comprehensive solution all in one app, Noto said in a press release. “The new investments and our partnership with Social Capital Hedosophia [SPAC] signify the confidence in our strategy, the momentum in our business, as well as the significant growth opportunity ahead of us.”