Bithumb’s Acquisition Deal Could Fall Apart
- BK Global Consortium’s 400 billion won (around $334 million) acquisition deal of Bithumb still not paid in full after one year.
- So far the company has only made a $100 million down payment, and has had its full payment deadline extended twice.
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb’s existing acquisition deal could fall apart due to difficulties with payments, The Korea Herald reported on 30 September.
Almost a year ago, BK Global Consortium made a deal to acquire 51% of the shares that BTC Korean Holdings has in the cryptocurrency exchange for 400 billion won (around $334 million).
According to today’s report, BK Global is now expected to default the payments for the deal, as it has reportedly only made a $100 million down payment for the past year.
The report also states that sources close to the matter have said that BK Global pushed back on this year’s April deadline for purchasing the shares, on the condition it increases the shares it’s going to buy from BTC Holding from 51% to 70%.
The report also states that, to this day the payment has not been made, and that BK Global once again missed its deadline for the final payment, stoking suspicions about the company’s ability to provide the funds.
In order to raise the funds needed, the company was reportedly planning to conduct a token offering, but allegedly put an end to that plan due to the crypto market downturn.
Now it seems that the company is looking for various partnerships and buyouts in order to secure the needed capital. The report claims that in July, Dual Industrial had decided to buy a 57% stake in BK Group, a move for BK to finance its Bithumb acquisition, but later withdrew that plan.
The report now claims that Cho Yoon-hyeong, who owns a large stake in electronic equipment manufacturer Cornerstone, is rumored to help BK Global with their acquisition by contributing close to $125 million from his personal assets.
- Acquiring a majority stake in the GOPAX crypto exchange will allow Binance to re-enter the South Korean market, two years after it left.
- The funds for the acquisition came from Binance’s Industry Recovery Initiative, and will be used to enable customer withdrawals and interest payments on GOPAX.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. CoinDesk
- The former chairman of crypto exchange Bithumb, Kang Jong-Hyun, was arrested in South Korea on charges of embezzlement, breach of trust, and market manipulation.
- Seoul’s Southern District Court had issued an arrest warrant for Jong-Hyun and two other executives last week, one of which is the CEO of two Bithumb affiliates.
- Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital has received an initial approval from the bankruptcy court to sell its assets to Binance.US for a little over $1 billion.
- The deal, however, still requires approval from a majority of Voyager’s creditors, and is subject to another confirmation hearing scheduled for March.