Crypto exchange Zipmex set for $100m buyout

The embattled cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex Asia is poised to be acquired by a venture capital fund for about US$100 million in digital coins and cash, one of the first rescues in Asia since a wave of defaults ripped through the sector.

V Ventures, a subsidiary of the SET-listed shipping company Thoresen Thai Agencies Plc, is offering $30 million in cash and the remainder in crypto tokens, said a person familiar with the matter. A share sale agreement detailing the deal terms was presented, according to a court hearing on Friday in Singapore, which did not identify the buyer. 

The fund is set to acquire about 90% in Zipmex, the person said, asking not to be named as the information about the buyer is not public.

The crypto received from the deal will be used to gradually unlock Zipmex customers’ frozen wallets by early April next year, according to the court hearing, after withdrawals were suspended in the wake of a crypto rout. 

A spokesperson at Zipmex declined to comment “given the current sensitivities”. V Ventures did not respond to an email seeking comments. Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, a general partner at the firm, declined to comment when reached by phone and asked if the firm had reached a deal to buy Zipmex.

Zipmex, which has operations in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia, has been under restructuring after it was granted protection from creditors in Singapore in August.