American investment bank Morgan Stanley is allegedly planning to buy a stake in South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. According to local media website Naver News, Morgan Stanley may even be aiming to acquire the exchange.
The news came from a senior executive from Bithumb Holdings, saying that Morgan Stanley participated through a merger and acquisition (M&A). Prior to this, the investment bank approached Bident, which owns a considerable percentage of stake in Bithumb. Moreover, Bident has the “right to negotiate a preferred sale to acquire Bithumb Holdings,” according to the source.
What is more, Morgan Stanley is reportedly willing to pay between 300 to 500 billion KRW ($265 – $440 million).
In January, South Korean gaming company Nexon was rumored to be planning to acquire Bithumb. However, Vidente denied the allegations a day after local media reported it. However, Naver News said that Nexon CEO Kim Jung-joo actually showed “strong willingness” to take over the exchange. Nevertheless, negotiations were sluggish, so the deal did not ensue.
Bithumb is arguably the biggest South Korean crypto exchange. However, it has experienced a number of issues mainly due to its Executive Chairman, leading to at least three raids in 2020. . Since then, the exchange shareholders have been planning to sell it. So far, Bithumb has yet to confirm whether it has finally accepted the offer from Morgan Stanley or not.
This article first published on coinquora.com
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Source: Cryptocurrency - investing.com
