Crypto exchange Huobi Global, one of the biggest token trading outposts in the Asia markets, said late Friday that it has agreed to be purchased by Hong Kong-based investment company About Capital Management’s M&A fund.
In a blog post, Huobi Global, a top-10 exchange by trading volume, said About will “control the majority stake” of Huobi once the deal closes; it said the ownership transfer will have no impact on trading operations.
The news comes after months of speculation and reports that founder Leon Li was seeking a buyer for his nearly 60% stake in Huobi, and was asking for at least $1 billion. The terms of the deal with About Capital were not disclosed.
Under new ownership, the exchange is plotting an international expansion and will receive an “injection of sufficient capital in margin and risk provision fund,” the blog post said.
In a statement, Li, who founded Huobi in China in 2013, said the exchange’s late 2021 departure from the Chinese mainland kicked off a globalization push that will now accelerate under About Capital.
Huobi’s native token HT rose sharply on the news.
UPDATE (OCT 8, 23:32 UTC): Adds information and context throughout.
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