Investors Are Finalizing to Buy CoinDesk for $125M: WSJ

1. A group of investors are finalizing a deal to acquire CoinDesk for $125 million.
2. CoinDesk’s management will remain in place if the deal pushes through.
3. The current owner acquired CoinDesk in 2016 for just $500,000.

A group of investors is in the final stages of sealing a deal for cryptocurrency-focused media company CoinDesk, according to sources from The Wall Street Journal. 

The investor group is led by Matthew Roszak of Tally Capital, a private investment firm focused on crypto and blockchain-based technologies, and Peter Vessenes of Capital6, a venture-capital firm and family office, as reported by the news outlet.

The transaction, as disclosed by The Wall Street Journal, would have an enterprise value of about $125 million. CoinDesk’s parent company, Digital Currency Group or DCG, is expected to retain a stake in the media, events, data, and indexes business as part of the deal. 

The acquisition, set to be finalized in the next few weeks, will see CoinDesk’s current management remaining in place, providing continuity in the company’s operations, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Earlier this year, the same news outlet reported that CoinDesk had enlisted the services of investment bankers at Lazard to explore various options, including a partial or full sale. During that period, DCG received unsolicited offers exceeding $200 million from interested parties.

It’s worth noting that DCG initially acquired CoinDesk in 2016 at a significantly lower price of $500,000. However, the media company experienced substantial growth and generated an impressive $50 million in revenue last year. This income resulted from its flourishing online advertising initiatives and the success of its index and events business.

The acquisition deal arrives at a critical juncture for DCG, which has faced challenges due to the bankruptcy of its lending arm, Genesis Global Capital. Additionally, the closure of its institutional-trading platform, TradeBlock, and its wealth-management unit, HQ, have further compounded the company’s troubles. The cryptocurrency conglomerate has encountered difficulties following a series of notable bankruptcies in the industry and a decline in token prices during the previous year.

DCG is currently entangled in a legal dispute with the Winklevoss brothers’ Gemini Trust Company, which alleges that DCG concealed significant losses incurred by Genesis after a default from one of its major borrowers, crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, in the spring of 2022.

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