Aurora Acquisition Corp. (AURC) Shareholders Approve Better Deal

Aurora Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: AURC) announced this afternoon that its shareholders approved its combination with proptech firm Better at a special meeting earlier today.

Aurora’s sponsor, directors and executive officers own 97.7% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares, including 100% of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares, and committed to vote in favor of the deal.

The parties expect to close the transaction on or around August 22. Following the closing, the publicly listed company will be named Better Home & Finance Holding Company and its Class A common stock and warrants are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbols “BETR” and “BETRW,” respectively.

Aurora announced its $6.7 billion combination with Better over two years ago in May 2021, becoming the oldest announced SPAC deal yet to be completed.

Throughout this period, Aurora tweaked its combination with the homebuying marketplace a total of four times. Among those changes included a requirement for Better to cover up to $15 million in expenses for Aurora, and substituting the initial $1.5 billion PIPE and a $278 million backstop with a $750 million bridge note that will ultimately be converted to equity.

Aurora’s sponsor SoftBank had also agreed to provide a convertible note of up to $750 million arriving 45 days after close, which is to function as a larger backstop as it will be reduced commensurate with any amounts remaining in Aurora’s trust.

New York City-based Better provides a slate of homebuying services connecting consumers with lenders, insurers and realtors.

All other proposals on today’s ballot were also approved.