Overseas investors might step in to acquire South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb due to alleged difficulties with payments in its existing acquisition deal.
A firm headed by one of South Korea’s leading plastic surgeons, BK Global Consortium, closed a deal in October 2018 to acquire 50% plus one share of BTC Holding Co. which is the largest investor in Bithumb’s operator.
Fresh report from local news agency Yonhap on September 30 suggests that BK Global is now expected to default on payments for the deal, having struggled with even the initial down payment of $100 million.
Bithumb is currently the world’s 43rd largest exchange by reported daily traded volume, according to CoinMarketCap.
When the acquisition deadline came this April, BK Global opted to increase its stake in BTC Holding to 70% in lieu of paying its outstanding balance.
The payment has reportedly been postponed till this day, further stoking suspicions about the company’s ability to provide the funds.
BK Global planned to conduct a token offering to raise capital for the acquisition, but allegedly scrapped the plan due to the cryptocurrency market downturn.