Metaplanet has disclosed a $135 million deal to take control of Nasdaq-listed gaming company Super League Enterprise, a transaction that Protos says places Evo Fund on both sides of the arrangement.
According to the report, Evo Fund previously financed Metaplanet’s bitcoin buying in Tokyo. Once the takeover is completed, the same fund is set to receive warrants for up to 10 million Super League shares.
Protos identified Evo Fund as a Cayman Islands vehicle launched by Michael Lerch, a Princeton graduate and former Barings trader. Bloomberg, as cited by Protos, has described Lerch as closely tied to Tokyo’s so-called death spiral financing trade.
Evo had already invested in Super League
Protos reported that Evo Fund bought into Super League in September 2025 through a "$10 million strategic equity investment." That capital injection helped Super League regain compliance with Nasdaq’s equity rules.
If shareholders approve the transaction, Super League plans to rename itself Superplanet.
Why Evo’s warrant activity draws attention
Japanese business media has nicknamed Lerch the "mysterious alchemist," according to Protos, because of the dilutive effect his fund’s warrants can have on companies. The report says Evo is Japan’s largest buyer of floating-strike equity warrants, while Bloomberg has described Lerch as synonymous with the death spiral financing strategy.
Protos said these warrants often use a moving strike price instead of a fixed one. As share prices fall, contractual terms can allow Evo to convert into stock at lower prices. Each exercise can dilute existing shareholders further as the stock declines.
For scale, Protos said Evo’s 2025 warrant transactions in Japan exceeded ¥1 trillion, or about $6.3 billion, representing more than 80% of the country’s floating-warrant market.
Terms disclosed in Super League’s filing
Super League’s disclosure lists two subscription agreements signed on the same day.
Under one agreement, Metaplanet’s Florida subsidiary, Metaplanet Holdings, subscribes for 44,859,400 common shares at $3 each. It also receives 100 shares of convertible preferred stock and four 10-year warrants covering up to 381 million shares.
The separate Evo agreement grants two two-year warrants covering up to 10 million shares, with fixed exercise prices of $3 and $5.55. Protos noted that this deal does not use a floating strike, which makes it unusual relative to the strategy often associated with Lerch.
Metaplanet has used similar financing for bitcoin purchases
Sadakazu Osaki, a researcher at Nomura Research Institute, said floating-strike warrants like the ones used by Evo are "the last financing resort for underperforming companies." Protos added that Metaplanet has used that same type of instrument at large scale to fund its bitcoin purchases.