VivoPower sells portion of Ripple Labs stake to Kweather for 20% equity

The UK-based AI-compute power service provider VivoPower is changing its digital asset exposure after agreeing to transfer part of its stake in Ripple Labs to the South Korean company Kweather Co. 

According to a Wednesday press statement from the company, VivoPower will take an equity stake in the KOSDAQ-listed business to support its quest for artificial intelligence data centres. The company is set to take a 20% interest in Kweather, valued at $4.3 million, under the agreement. 

The rest of VivoPower’s Ripple Labs shares are set to be acquired by Lean Ventures under a partnership disclosed in December last year. A company spokesperson told news outlets that the share transfers will be executed at prevailing market prices and subject to Ripple Labs’ internal approval procedures.

VivoPower insisted it would not be adding cryptocurrencies to its balance sheet through these steps, and has not recorded combined unrealized losses on its digital asset positions.

The shift to AI will come at the expense of its pursuit of becoming an XRP digital asset treasury. In December, the Nasdaq-listed firm confirmed that its arm, Vivo Federation, had partnered with South Korean asset manager Lean Ventures to purchase $300 million worth of Ripple shares.

VivoPower takes steps in a pivot towards AI with Ripple share transfer

According to the company’s executives, VivoPower will continue expanding its data center infrastructure operations following the late-January deal that secured 291 megawatts of powered land in Finland. The sites are powered by renewable electricity priced at less than 4 US cents per kilowatt-hour, the firm said.

The group signed a definitive agreement to purchase OGDC Pte Ltd, a developer holding economic rights in the Finnish-powered land portfolio. That acquisition provides a foundation for scaling AI-oriented infrastructure in Europe, starting with grid connectivity in Finland, expected within 12 months.

The deal structure includes $13 million in cash at closing, and an additional contingent value right with a $15 conversion price.

Although VivoPower is based in the United Kingdom, it has camps in several parts of the world, like Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. The B Corp-certified company is currently pursuing a “power to X” strategy to develop and own low-cost, sustainable power and AI data centre infrastructure.

Moreover, it has two divisions undergoing separation or divestment: Tembo, which develops electric solutions for customized fleet applications, and Caret Digital, which works on renewable energy use cases, including digital asset mining. Vivo Federation retains exposure to Ripple Labs equity and blockchain real-world asset initiatives.

Company shareholders greenlight capital framework changes

At an Extraordinary General Meeting, all six resolutions were approved by VivoPower International PLC’s shareholders on January 30, as announced in a press release by the company. All resolutions were approved with at least 93% of the total voting shares cast in support of the resolutions, which are aimed at providing a market-based incentive system to attract senior talent from the AI and crypto industries.

Days later, VivoPower terminated its at-the-market equity offering agreement with Chardan Capital Markets that was originally signed on December 23. The company confirmed that no further ordinary shares will be issued or sold under that facility, following an assessment of operating cash flows and capital needs.

The management stated that limiting equity dilution was feasible because the firm’s projected operating cash generation was sufficient and other economically non-dilutive funding avenues were available.

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