Shares of VivoPower International PLC, a solar energy firm listed on the Nasdaq, experienced a significant surge on Friday, climbing 32.12% to reach $5.10. This followed the company’s announcement of a strategic investment plan: the purchase of $100 million in shares of Ripple Labs, a privately held entity. This acquisition is part of VivoPower’s broader strategy to build a digital asset portfolio centered on XRP.
The planned acquisition, the result of two months of thorough investigation, will involve VivoPower purchasing Ripple shares directly from current shareholders. This transaction is contingent upon the approval of Ripple’s leadership team, as detailed in a press release issued on Friday.
“Our investment approach involves securing a combination of Ripple equity and XRP digital tokens,” explained Kevin Chin, VivoPower’s Chairman and CEO. “This blended approach is designed to optimize our returns while simultaneously reducing the overall cost of acquiring XRP.”
VivoPower also intends to continue its direct purchases of XRP (XRP) tokens. This strategic move would position VivoPower as the first U.S.-listed public company to offer investors exposure to both the equity of Ripple and the XRP digital asset.
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VivoPower Partners with BitGo and Nasdaq for Ripple Share Management
To effectively implement its strategy, VivoPower will utilize BitGo for secure custody of its assets and leverage Nasdaq Private Market, Ripple’s preferred platform for private share transactions. A third-party auditor will conduct quarterly reviews of VivoPower’s holdings in Ripple.
Ripple, upon its creation, issued 100 billion XRP tokens. To date, approximately 14 million tokens have been burned, and Ripple holds 41 billion, primarily in escrow accounts. Besides XRP, Ripple’s ventures include the RLUSD stablecoin, the digital asset prime broker Hidden Road, custodians MetaCo and Standard Custody & Trust, and the Rail stablecoin payment platform.
VivoPower’s leadership believes this comprehensive strategy could reduce the implied average cost per XRP to around $0.47. This represents a substantial discount of 86% compared to current market values, based solely on Ripple’s XRP holdings and excluding the valuation of its other business operations.
According to the company’s estimates, each $10 million investment in Ripple shares potentially translates to an increase of roughly $5.15 in value per share for VivoPower’s shareholders, although this is subject to fluctuations in the market.
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BDACS Introduces Institutional XRP Custody Services in South Korea
Earlier this week, BDACS, a cryptocurrency custodian based in South Korea, began offering regulated custody solutions for XRP. This launch followed its partnership with Ripple in February and utilizes Ripple Custody, a sophisticated solution for enterprise-level users, providing secure storage and management of XRP assets for institutions.
Earlier this year, Ripple Labs forged a partnership with South Korean digital asset custodian BDACS to provide institutional clients custody services for XRP and their USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD.
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