- Nexo is looking to acquire Vauld
- Vauld had to halt customer withdrawals on Monday due to financial difficulties
- Vauld is based in Singapore and Nexo is looking to expand in that area
Nexo is looking to acquire Singapore-based crypto lending platform Vauld, which this week became the latest casualty of the crypto credit crunch. Nexo announced yesterday that it had signed an agreement with Vauld giving it 60 days of exclusive talks to explore an all-equity acquisition of the company, which, if successful, would see Nexo restructuring the company and pursuing an expansion in Southeast Asia and India.
Nexo Looking to use Vauld for Expansion
Vauld announced on Monday that it had taken the decision to halt customer withdrawals after it was financially impacted by the collapse of Three Arrows Capital among other partners, and was looking at all options that would keep customer funds safe.
Fortunately for Vauld customers, the location of the company could be its saving grace. Nexo is clearly looking to expand into the Southeast Asia and India region where Vauld is based, and taking over the lender would be the easiest way for Nexo to do this.
CNBC was told by Vauld co-founder Antoni Trenchev that it was “premature” to talk about a valuation for the company, mainly because Nexo hasn’t gone through Vauld’s books yet, although he added he was “optimistic” about reaching a deal, which is what customers will want to hear.
We’ve Been Here Before…
Nexo has form with snapping up the assets of troubled lending platforms. In the last bear market it made moves to acquire the assets of Salt, at that time its main competition in the crypto loans arena, after the latter experienced difficulties, although this never went through and Salt is still operating today (although barely).
Indeed, it also formally offered to buy out Celsius, but Celsius refused, preferring to try and retain their sovereignty as they look for a way out of their own troubles.
