The Smarter Web Company has raised £10 million ($13.2 million) in the initial public offering (IPO) of its new preferred shares, which start trading on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market under the ticker MORE at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14.
That is £5 million ($6.6 million) below the bottom range in the company’s prospectus, a shortfall the CEO has acknowledged.
Retail Investors Supplied Most of the Money
According to Monday’s announcement, the institutional offer brought in £2.4 million, or just over $3.1 million, and the retail offer £7.6 million ($10 million), roughly 75% of the total as noted by CEO Andrew Webley. Net proceeds after expenses come to about £8.3 million, which is nearly $11 million at current rates.
“I know £10 million is at a lower range of what we were targeting, and I won’t pretend otherwise,” Webley wrote on X.
As the executive described it, institutional demand was “disappointing” because several investors the company expected to take part decided against it, though many want to see how the shares trade and could join as the issue grows.
UK financial promotion rules limited what the company could communicate during the offer, the CEO added, and traditional media coverage was thin. Even so, the raise cleared the £10 million minimum set for the IPO to go ahead.
In the announcement, he called the listing “a proud moment for Smarter Web” and said the company believes MORE will pay the first weekly dividend by a London-listed commercial firm. On X, he described MORE as the first preferred share from a Bitcoin treasury company on a main market outside the US.
The company will issue 111,112 preferred shares at £90 each ($119), with another 100,000 going into an at-the-market facility that sells new shares gradually, held by or on behalf of Tennyson Capital.
Preferred holders have no vote at shareholder meetings but receive a cumulative, variable weekly dividend starting at 12% a year on £100 ($132), meaning missed payments carry forward and the board can adjust the rate within limits set in the prospectus. The first payment is £0.2301 per share, translating to $0.30, payable by November 9 at the latest to holders on the October 23 record date.
Because the total landed below £15 million, the company intends to apply net proceeds in the priority order set out in the prospectus. About £3.85 million (just over $5 million) covers working capital and general costs, including cash reserves for dividends, while £4 million goes toward more Bitcoin and £500,000, or $661,000, to the operating business.
What the CEO Said Treasury Companies Risk
As CryptoPotato reported earlier this month, the Smarter Web CEO told Bitcoin advocate Stephen Livera that treasury companies amplify BTC’s price swings, which investors welcome on the way up and dislike on the way down.
Management is the other risk, because capital structure choices that let a firm grow faster could come at shareholders’ expense, while the cryptocurrency itself “has no management.”
Smarter Web began as a public company in April 2025 with a £2.1 million fundraise, and Webley says it has since become the UK’s largest public Bitcoin treasury company, holding a 2,747 BTC stash worth around $229 million, and ranks 29th in the global top 30.
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Source: https://cryptopotato.com/uk-bitcoin-treasury-firm-smarter-web-closes-10m-share-offering/
