Exclusive: Cohen & Company's Daniel Cohen Talks eToro Deal, Peak SPAC Mania, More

Daniel Cohen is the chairman of the financial services company Cohen & Company Inc. COHN, a powerhouse in the fintech and SPAC universes. He is also the chairman of The Bancorp, Inc. TBBK, a provider of private label banking and technology solutions to address the business needs of non-bank companies. On Friday, he was a guest on Benzinga's "SPACs Attack" show.

Early Adopter Of SPACs: Cohen's first SPAC deal was in 2015, years before the craze caught on. He is now working simultaneously on his 12th and 13th SPAC deals, targeting companies in the fintech and insurance industries.

Perhaps Cohen's highest-profile deal to date is a merger with eToro that he worked on with his mother Betsy Cohen.

Despite a valuation north of $10 billion, eToro's valuation is "cheap on every metric," he told Benzinga.

See also: eToro Review

The Israel-based brokerage platform is a "powerful generator" of earnings, revenue and growth, he said. 

The company has grown faster than many had expected, as eToro's management is ultra-focused on monetizing the lifetime of a customer in a uniquely social way, Cohen said. 

Revenue for eToro is mostly limited to Europe, Southeast Asia and other regions. The company has yet to make a major push into North America, and Cohen said this is part of the investment story.

"We expect substantial inroads in the United States, and that's really a plus for investors."

Related Link: SPAC Deal To Bring eToro Public After Revenue Growth Of 147%, 5 Million New Users In 2020

SPAC Peak: Private companies are more open to the SPAC route because the process removes much of the timing and uncertainty related to traditional IPOs, Cohen said in the interview.

The traditional IPO process can take nine months to complete and will only be finalized if the public conditions are favorable at that time, he said.

The SPAC euphoria is showing no signs of slowing down, yet there is a "certain amount of saturation" in the market, Cohen said.

It is not fair to say the market is "oversaturated" with new SPAC deals, in his view. 

"I do know there will probably be a number of SPACs that don't get combinations done," he said. "But there will be a lot of SPACs that do and a lot of great companies will go public."

See also: How to Invest in SPACs 

Cohen said he will continue working on SPAC deals so long as there are compelling private companies to take public, adding that his focus will remain within the fintech and insurance space given his in-depth and specialized knowledge of the space.

Watch the full interview here: