BENGALURU (Feb 22): Apex Clearing Corp, a clearing firm and a custodian for digital assets, said on Monday that it will go public through a merger with a blank-check firm backed by New York Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky, in a deal that values the combined entity at US$4.7 billion. The deal with Northern Star Investment Corp II is expected to fetch Apex US$850 million in gross cash proceeds including a private investment of US$450 million anchored by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC and Baron Capital Group.