Media: deal on selling Bithumb for $ 330 million falling apart

The deal to sell the largest South Korean exchange Bithumb runs the risk of falling apart a year after its conclusion, reports Korea Herald , citing its own sources.

An agreement on the sale of a controlling stake in Bithumb was concluded between BTC Korea Holdings, the exchange operator, and the Singapore consortium BK Global in October 2018. Under its terms, BTC Korea Holdings, which owns 76% in Bithumb, sold 50% + 1 share of the company from Singapore for 400 billion won ($ 333 million).

The deal was originally supposed to close in February 2019. According to the Korean publication, BK Group only made an advance payment of 100 million won, and the deadline for paying the remaining amount was postponed twice.

In April, a deferment was granted, provided that the BK Group increased its stake from 50% to 70%, the Korea Herald said.

In July, Dual Industrial announced a decision to buy a 57.41% stake in BK Group for 235.7 billion won, which looked like an attempt by a Singapore company to finance a Bithumb deal. But later Dual refused the deal.

According to the Korea Herald, in September BK Group found a new private investor. He became the owner of the company that owns the largest stake in the Korean company Cornerstone Networks.

The representative of the cryptocurrency exchange commented on the information of the Korean publication:

“Bithumb has stable management and a deal breakdown will not have any impact on the exchange.”

Recall that at the end of 2018, Bithumb losses amounted to $ 180 million, which did not stop attracting funding in the amount of $ 200 million this year from the Japanese blockchain fund ST.

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