The all-stock deal would add a major transfer agent to Bullish’s regulated digital-asset platform, while Siris keeps call options on three UK business lines and gains two board seats at closing.
Bullish, the NYSE-listed crypto exchange operator trading under BLSH, said on May 5, 2026 it agreed to acquire Equiniti for $4.2 billion in an all-stock transaction targeted to close in January 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. The deal would combine a regulated digital-asset exchange and CoinDesk owner with one of the world’s largest transfer agents, a move Bullish is positioning around tokenized securities. The transaction value includes $1.85 billion of assumed debt and about $2.35 billion in Bullish shares, valued at $38.48 each using a 30-day volume-weighted average price at announcement. Equiniti supports nearly 3,000 issuers, roughly 20 million shareholders and about $500 billion in annual payments, giving Bullish an established recordkeeping, dividend-processing and stock-transfer platform that could be adapted for blockchain-based securities infrastructure. Siris Capital Group, which bought Equiniti in 2021, is retaining call options on three UK-focused business lines described as non-core to the Bullish deal and has committed to investing in their technology and artificial intelligence capabilities before closing. Siris is also set to receive two board seats in the combined company once the transaction closes. The deal is expected to generate roughly a threefold return on Siris’s Equiniti investment, while leaving Bullish shareholders facing both added leverage from the assumed debt and dilution from the stock consideration.