Agreed they chose this merger in place of an IPO. Here is an explanation why a company might chose to do so.
Why should I use a reverse merger rather than an IPO (Initial Public Offering)? Reverse mergers have a number of benefits over IPO’s. For example, they tend to have lower costs, less required management attention, much shorter process times, and less dilution, which allows a private company’s management, founders, and prior investors to retain a greater percentage ownership of their company after going public. In addition, reverse mergers are not market-sensitive. Therefore, they are not dependent on the unpredictable IPO window “openings” or on underwriters and initial market prices on the particular day of trading.
All of my posts are my opinion only and are not meant to be investment advice.