VivoPower International (VVPR), a Nasdaq-listed energy company, said on Wednesday it has entered into agreement for a $121 million private share placement to fund its pivot to digital asset treasury focusing on XRP
, the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
The fundraising was led by Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Abdulaziz Al Saud, investing $100 million, a spokesperson to the company told CoinDesk. The company intends to sell 20 million ordinary shares priced at $6.05 per share, according to a Wednesday SEC filing.
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Adam Traidman, a former executive of SBI Ripple Asia, is joining the company as chairman of the board of advisors, according to the press release. Ripple is an enterprise-focused blockchain service provider closely related to the XRP Ledger.
VivoPower shares surged as much as 26% on the news before giving back some of the gains. Recently, they were up over 11%, trading around $6.75.
The move aligns with a growing trend of public firms raising money to purchase and add digital assets to their treasuries, a playbook popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR) that has become the largest corporate holder of bitcoin
. While BTC has been the most sought-after asset among these firms, recent newcomers likeDeFi DevelopmentandSharpLink Gamingdirected their focus to Solana’s SOL
and Ethereum’s ether
, respectively.
VivoPower, founded in 2014, said it aims to be the first publicly traded company with a crypto treasury strategy centered around XRP. It also shared plans to spin off its legacy business.
“After reviewing a number of listed vehicles seeking to embrace a digital asset treasury model, we selected VivoPower given its strategic focus on XRP and its objective to contribute to building out of the XRPL ecosystem,” Prince Abdulaziz said in a statement in the press release and SEC filing. “We have been investors in the digital asset sector for a decade and have been long-term holders of XRP.”
Read more: XRP Spot ETF in the U.S. Moves Closer to Reality
UPDATE (22:08 UTC): Adds SEC filing.
