This Jan 18th story incorrectly states that the pre-money value is $1.5 billion and not $1.6 billion in paragraph 5. This story has been corrected previously to correct attribution at paragraph 4.

By Sohini Podder and Manya Saini

(Reuters) – Pioneer Merger Corp has resigned from its $2.2 billion special purpose acquisition agreement with Acorns Growth, according to a Tuesday regulatory filing.

In May of last year, the deal was expected to close during the second half 2021. The Irvine, California-based company would then be listed on Nasdaq.

Acorns, in accordance with the agreement, will pay Pioneer $17.5million per month in termination fees until December 15.

Noah Kerner, chief executive officer of the Company, stated that market conditions dictated that he would pivot to a private capital raise with a lower pre-money value.

Kerner didn’t disclose the Acorns valuation. According to a source, the merger was worth $1.5 billion before money.

Sources said that the company had also considered a public listing via a traditional initial public offer (IPO), but didn’t provide specific timing.

Blank-check companies, also known as SPACs or Stock-Put-Aside Companies, are public-traded investment vehicles which merge with a private firm to make them publicly traded. This avoids the complications associated with a traditional IPO.

Recently, the trend to list using SPACs is over. Shares of many companies, such as Grab Holdings or BuzzFeed, have plummeted after they went public, including BuzzFeed and Grab Holdings.

Some deals have been halted due to regulatory constraints in the wider blank-check market. Parallel, a cannabis producer and sports card company Topps are just two examples.

The likes PayPal Holdings Inc Acorns is a platform that allows you to buy stocks or bonds. It uses a subscription model.