Emily Walker
Allianz SE, the largest insurance firm in Germany and the second-largest in Europe, has made a significant investment by acquiring nearly 25% of MicroStrategy’s latest convertible note offering. This move is seen as a strong endorsement of Bitcoin from a prominent financial entity.
Allianz Seeks Bitcoin Investment
Allianz acquired 24.75% of MicroStrategy’s recent $2.6 billion convertible note issuance, aimed at institutional investors, which was finalized on November 21. The investment was split among four of Allianz’s subsidiaries, as reported by analyst Petruschki on November 22. He noted: “The German insurance giant Allianz bought 24.75% of MicroStrategy’s 2031 bond.”
Petruschki provided further details about the investment: “These positions were filed in July and October. The shares were distributed among: Allianz Global Investors Luxembourg (14.34%), Allianz Global Investors of America LP (6.64%), Nicholas Applegate Capital Management Inc. (3.74%), and Allianz Global Investors GmbH (0.04%).”
MicroStrategy, recognized as the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin globally, initially proposed a note offering of $1.75 billion on November 18. Due to high demand from institutional investors, this amount was increased to $2.6 billion just two days later.
The successful completion of this note offering on November 21 resulted in raised capital of $3 billion, indicating that participants took advantage of the opportunity to purchase the maximum allowable additional notes. Michael Saylor, founder and Executive Chairman of MicroStrategy, confirmed that the offering was concluded successfully.
Among the institutional investors in this offering, Allianz SE emerged as the largest, holding 149,455 shares, which represents 24.75% of the total. Calamos Partners LLC holds the second-highest portion with 37,329 shares (6.18%), while Context Capital Management LLC has 30,500 shares (5.05%).
Other notable contributors include State Street Corp with 8,307 shares (1.38%) and FMR LLC with 7,199 shares (1.19%). Additional investments were made by BlackRock, Schroders PLC, and the Royal Bank of Canada, each owning less than 1% of the shares.
This surge in institutional investment comes at a crucial time for Bitcoin as it nears the key milestone of $100,000. Many view Allianz’s involvement as a robust endorsement of Bitcoin’s long-term prospects.
Patrick Dotson, Co-Founder and COO of Synnax, addressed the situation on X: “Once again, we see Wall Street FOMO, particularly among asset managers restricted from direct Bitcoin investments. MSTR has just issued a $2.6 billion Convertible Bond, increasing the initial offer by a remarkable $850 million. They will pay ZERO interest. […] Are retail investors listed among the backers? No, the blame lies with Wall Street, not Saylor.”
As of the latest update, BTC is valued at $97,812.
