Judge Gives Initial Approval for Binance.US to Acquire Voyager’s Assets

A U.S. court has given its initial approval for bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital to proceed with its proposal to sell its assets to Binance.US for a little over $1 billion, Reuters reported on 11 January.

According to the publication, Judge Michael Wiles of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved Voyager’s request to enter into an asset purchase agreement with Binance.US and seek approval from a majority of Voyager’s creditors. The deal is still not complete, however, and will be a subject to another confirmation hearing scheduled for March.

Voyager attorney Joshua Sussberg noted during the court hearing that the bankrupt crypto lender was responding to questions raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency body that reviews foreign investments into U.S. companies. Sussberg said that Voyager was ready to address any concerns that could lead CFIUS to oppose the deal:

“We are coordinating with Binance and their attorneys to not only deal with that inquiry, but to voluntarily submit an application to move this process along.”

Voyager filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in July, and in September agreed to sell its assets to FTX, but that deal fell apart in November when the crypto exchange collapsed. The bidding process was reopened once again, with Voyager agreeing to Binance.US’ bid to acquire its assets for $1.022 billion in December.

Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a limited objection to the deal that questioned Binance.US’ ability to fund such a large acquisition, and called on Voyager to provide more information on what would happen should this deal fall appart as well. FTX’s sister company Alameda Research — which is also undergoing bankruptcy proceedings — also filed an objection to the deal, claiming that it “unfairly discriminates against” Alameda’s claims as it was a “substantial shareholder” of Voyager.