VivoPower International PLC saw its shares jump 32.12% to $5.10 on Friday after unveiling a $100 million plan to acquire privately held Ripple Labs shares, alongside a continued expansion of its XRP token holdings.
The Nasdaq-listed solar power company confirmed it will buy Ripple shares directly from existing shareholders, pending approval from Ripple’s executive management. The deal follows two months of due diligence and will be executed through Nasdaq Private Market, Ripple’s preferred platform for private share transactions.
“Our portfolio construction strategy is to buy a combination of Ripple shares and XRP tokens. This will allow us to optimize for yield maximization while minimizing the weighted average cost of XRP acquired,” said Kevin Chin, VivoPower’s executive chairman and CEO.
Dual Exposure to Ripple Equity and XRP
VivoPower will continue to directly acquire XRP tokens, making it the first publicly traded U.S. company to give shareholders exposure to both Ripple equity and XRP.
In after-hours trading, shares gained another 4.51%, extending the rally.
Source: Google Finance
Custody and Oversight
To safeguard its holdings, VivoPower will work with BitGo for custody of both XRP and Ripple shares, and retain an independent auditor to review Ripple-related assets quarterly. Ripple itself currently holds 41 billion XRP, mostly in escrow, after burning 14 million tokens since inception.
Beyond XRP, Ripple operates a range of businesses including the RLUSD stablecoin, digital asset prime broker Hidden Road, and custody platforms MetaCo and Standard Custody & Trust.
Strategic Pricing Advantage
VivoPower estimates its combined acquisition strategy will lower the implied average XRP cost to $0.47—an 86% discount to current market prices—based solely on Ripple’s XRP holdings and excluding other business assets.
The company also projects that every $10 million in Ripple shares purchased could add $5.15 per VivoPower share in value, though this depends on broader market conditions.
Share This
