Nexo Offers to Acquire the Remaining Assets of Competitor SALT Lending

ZUG, Switzerland, July 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Nexo, the leading global crypto-backed loans platform, has offered to buy certain assets of SALT Lending, whose CEO left the company unexpectedly, and provide liquidity to its community.

SALT Lending has offered no explanation for the sudden departure of Shawn Owen, who was the public face of the company that had reportedly built up a loan portfolio of $40 million backed by cryptocurrency as collateral since it began operations last year.

Nexo, whose automated lending platform allows borrowers to access instant loans, made an offer to buy SALT Lending's loans business, consisting of loan receivables secured by corresponding collateral assets. It also offered to buy SALT's brand assets and customer database.

"Nexo is concerned with the latest developments at SALT due to their potentially detrimental influence on the sentiment of investors and borrowers in the crypto‐backed lending industry, as well as the blockchain community in general," Nexo said in a letter of intent to SALT Lending.

"In order to mitigate the consequences, Nexo, its partners and affiliates could readily acquire remaining qualifying assets of SALT and provide liquidity to its community," it added.

Nexo offered to provide immediate funding of up to $2 million per customer to SALT Lending's backlog of loan applications, subject to Nexo's know-your-customer and anti-money laundering procedures.

Nexo's platform is powered by Credissimo, a leading fintech group serving millions of people across Europe for over 10 years. Credissimo has always operated under the highest regulatory requirements and strictest supervision by multiple European Banking and Financial Services Regulators.

Nexo said it would consider honoring SALT users' paid memberships to access funding on Nexo's platform, contingent on a legal review and assessment of SALT's terms and conditions.

Nexo might accept SALT tokens as collateral for instant loans or for loan repayments on the Nexo platform, in line with the discount model pioneered with the NEXO token, under which the interest rate on loans is halved if paid with Nexo tokens.

Nexo raised $52.5 million in an 11x oversubscribed private coin sale earlier this year and launched its platform in April. The overwhelming part of these funds is now finding its way back to the community in the form of the world's first instant crypto-backed loans.

Nexo did not specify the price offered for the SALT assets, noting that this would be subject to the completion of a successful financial and legal due diligence process, and in line with possible impairments and nominal value adjustments.