MicroStrategy said Wednesday it anticipates raising $537.2 million in net proceeds from a debt offering the business intelligence company is conducting in its most brazen play yet to buy more bitcoin.
- The company announced its unsecured, convertible senior notes will pay out 0.750% in interest annually to the qualified institutional buyers â investors with at least $100 million under management â who buy in.
- MicroStrategy plans on selling $550 million of the debt instruments. That's a significant markup from the $400 million targeted in the original Monday announcement.
- MicroStrategy's bitcoin-first treasury reserve policy, which saw the 31-year old company plunk $475 million of excess cash in the cryptocurrency, has pushed Nasdaq-listed MSTR shares higher for weeks. But MSTR investors seem less certain in the wisdom of raising debt to buy more bitcoin.
- Tuesday, Citi analyst Tyler Radke downgraded MSTR to "sell." He argued in a research note that CEO Michael Saylor's laser-like focus on bitcoin was distracting the company from executing its business model.
- The new debt target of $550 million stands in stark contrast to Radke's rebuke.
Read more: Michael Saylor: Bitcoinâs Cyber Hornet
