Nexo Says Acquisition Talks With Rival Vauld Are Falling Apart, but Not Yet Dead
Nexo first started its attempt to acquire Vauld back in July
FellowNeko/Shutterstock.com modified by Blockworks
Crypto lender Nexo has reached the “enough is enough” point when it comes to its troubled bid to acquire a competitor, Vauld, the company said this week.
In a letter sent to Vauld’s creditors on Monday and reviewed by Blockworks, Nexo stopped short of calling off ongoing negotiations surrounding the long running potential purchase. Nexo, which also operates a digital assets exchange, issued a series of amendments to what the company’s executive team is calling its final proposal for the deal.
Vauld — one of many crypto firms caught off guard by the market’s downturn earlier this year — has been in hot water for a while. The Singapore-based company slashed its workforce by about 30% in June, when it also looked to half the compensation of some of its executives. The firm halted withdrawals the next month on the heels of its customers pulling some $200 million off its platform.
Shortly following Vauld’s pause on redemptions, Nexo, evidently sensing opportunity, came to tentative terms with Vauld in signing a prospective term sheet to acquire 100% of the company and its corresponding assets.
That original proposal has since been extended, with Nexo most recently issuing a revised version on Dec. 2.
In its latest commentary out this week, Nexo cited a laundry list of its gripes with Vauld — or “daily challenges” — in terms of coming to an agreement:
- “Receiving slow and incomprehensive financial and legal due diligence information”
- Outstanding issues with the administrator of the potential deal. Nexo said the entity has “seemed to be directing the solution towards an active management arrangement rather than a lending arrangement, which would expose the former creditors to risk and require them to rely on aggressive return projections to recover their losses.”
- Purported steps to keep Nexto out of communication with stakeholders in the purchase Nexo said a “formal introduction” to the administrator occurred in mid-October, despite the lender’s requests for Vauld to facilitate an earlier introduction.
- Alleged misrepresentation of Nexo’s terms said to be disseminated by Vauld to its creditor committee.
Representatives for Vauld did not immediately return a request for additional comment. A source familiar with the matter said the two companies have an exclusivity period of an unspecified length — meaning that talks are still continuing. The source added that Nexo is trying to make what happens to Vauld the responsibility of the lender’s creditor committee.
Kalin Metodiev, Nexo’s co-founder and managing partner, said Nexo has “not given up on its bid to purchase Vauld.”
“However, as an industry leader we are disappointed to see a handful of people with self-serving agendas trying to [hijack] the narrative and bar the creditors from making their best decision,” Metodiev said in a statement.
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