DeFi Technologies Inc. is pleased to announce that it has entered into a letter of intent (the “LOI“) to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding securities of Protos Asset Management GmbH (“Protos“).
Protos, through their various funds and investment structures, gives investors exposure to professionally managed portfolios of cryptocurrency assets and DeFi networks. The founders have 18 combined years of investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Protos Quant accounts aim to systematically reduce risk while growing the size of its clients portfolios relative to their BTC & ETH benchmarks.
In 2017, Protos raised the first “tokenized” quantitative crypto fund, issuing the PRTS token (one of the first security tokens).
The LOI contemplates that DeFi Technologies and Protos will promptly negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement, together with such other documents that may be required in order to formalize and execute the terms of the Acquisition as outlined in the LOI.
Wouter Witvoet, DeFi Technologies Chief Executive Officer stated, “Since 2017, the team at Protos have created excellent infrastructure to give institutional and individual investors access to a diversified DeFi portfolio. They were also pioneers in allowing investors to access their quantitative investment strategies via the PRTS security token. It is these kinds of developments that I am excited to bring to the DeFi Technologies family and get to real scale using the platform we have created.”
Russell Starr, DeFi Technologies Executive Chairman, stated, “The acquisition of Protos paired with our planned acquisition of DeFi Yield and our current Valour ETP business creates an ideal symbiotic product offering for investors looking to get diversified exposure to the DeFi universe within one publicly listed company. These additions, along with the great team Defi Yield has assembled, now allows us to execute on our plans for rapid expansion throughout the DeFi universe. DeFi Technologies is now the most holistic publicly listed DeFi company in the world and should create tremendous shareholder value as we grow both organically and through acquisitions.”
Thomas Kineshanko, co-founder of Protos stated, “We believe that the combined strengths of DeFi Technologies and Protos will allow us to offer a portfolio of the highest quality DeFi products under one roof. Our team at Protos is deeply technical and passionate about DeFi and includes strong DeFi insights, quant trading and structured products capabilities. Through Protos we’ve brought several successful products to market early including the first tokenized hedge fund and one of the first and most successful DeFi yield hedge funds. This acquisition allows us to bring our technical experience and passion for DeFi to more users by leveraging the reach and world-class executive leadership that DeFi Technologies brings to the table.”
The completion of the Protos Acquisition is subject to the receipt of all necessary approvals, including without limitation, negotiation and execution of a Definitive Agreement, shareholder and board approval of each of Protos and the Company, as necessary, completion of due diligence and the satisfaction of all conditions (unless waived in writing) to be set out in the Definitive Agreement.
In consideration for the Protos Acquisition, the Company shall, upon closing of the Protos Acquisition, issue 7,500,000 common shares of the Company (the “DeFi Shares“) at a deemed price of $1.48 per DeFi Share to the shareholders of Protos The DeFi Shares shall be subject to an initial lock-up of three months, and then release in equal quarterly tranches over two years. Additional information in connection with the Protos Acquisition will be provided by the Company in subsequent press releases.
Through the Protos Acquisition, DeFi Technologies will have ownership of the operating business, all intellectual property, and brand of Protos and will assume the core operating team of Protos.
Shareholder Call
Separate from its acquisition of Protos, the Company will also conduct a shareholder call on August 16, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST to discuss its strong financial performance for the three and six-month period ending June 30, 2021. The Company expects to release numbers related to the first half period of the year on August 13, 2021. In addition, the Company intends to discuss its recent acquisitions and the corporate strategy for rapid and sustainable growth built on its current successes.
About Protos:
Founded in Switzerland in 2017, Protos Asset Management GmbH (“Protos”) is a leading provider of systematic crypto and Defi exposure. Protos provides a secure way to invest in cryptocurrency assets and DeFi networks that is systematically traded for accredited individuals, family offices, institutions and funds of funds.
About DeFi Technologies:
DeFi Technologies Inc. is a Canadian company that carries on business with the objective of enhancing shareholder value through building and managing assets in the decentralized finance sector.