- Binance.US to acquire Voyager Digital Assets for approximately 1.022 billion.
- The bid aims to return crypto to customers in a kind and by court-approved disbursement.
- Voyager Committee for Unsecure Creditors notes that the bid appears to be the best transaction.
In a press release published on December 19, the independent U.S. arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance will acquire assets of the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for just over $1 billion. After a review of strategic options to maximize the value returned to customers and creditors, Binance.US represented the “highest and best bid for its assets.”
The Binance.US bid is composed of the fair market value of Voyager’s cryptocurrency portfolio at a to-be-determined date in the future and additional consideration equal to $20 million of incremental value.
The crypto lender platform also noted that,
“The Company’s claims against Three Arrows Capital remain with the bankruptcy estate, and any future recovery of these and other non-released claims will be distributed to the estate’s creditors.”
The bid aims to return crypto to customers in kind, following court-approved disbursements and the company’s capabilities. The deal is set to close by April 18, 2023. However, Binance.US will make a $10 million good faith deposit and reimburse Voyager for certain expenses up to a maximum of $15 million.
The Chief Executive Officer and President of Binance.US, Brian Shroder, has noted in a statement that,
“Our bid reflects our guiding principle that customers should come first. Our goal is simple: return users their cryptocurrencies on the fastest timeline possible. We hope our selection brings to an end a painful bankruptcy process that saw customers unfairly dragged into it at no fault of their own. Upon the deal’s close, users can seamlessly access their digital assets on the Binance.US platform, where they will continue receiving future disbursements from the Voyager estate.”
Court hearing set for next year to approve the asset purchase agreement
A hearing is set to be held by the presiding bankruptcy court on January 5, 2023, to support the asset purchase agreement between the companies. Additionally, the sale to Binance.US will be subject to a creditor vote and other customary closing conditions.
This year has favored only some crypto firms as many have filed for bankruptcy and frozen withdrawals, including Voyager Digital crypto lender. In early July, the crypto lender filed for bankruptcy and froze its withdrawals for its customers amid liquidity issues arising from its exposure to a$650 million loan default from the defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
After filing for bankruptcy, the platform thought it could return some of its funds to its customers by selling its assets to FTX. Now, everybody is aware of the downfall of the mighty crypto exchange. However, the Binance CEO, CZ, signed a letter of intent to acquire its rival FTX, and in less than 24 hours, Binance scrapped the letter to purchase the crypto exchange. In a Tweet post, Binance noted that due to due diligence and the latest news reports regarding mishandled customer funds, we have decided not to pursue the potential acquisition of FTX.
However, FTX secured a bid for Voyager’s Digital assets for $1.4 billion. The deal enabled senior claims t be paid out in full and allowed unsecured customers to recover approximately 72% of the value of their accounts.
The Voyager Committee of Unsecured Creditors noted via a Tweet that, given the time limit frame and based on what they know, the Binance.US bid appears to be the “best transaction in the meantime.”
