The founder of the crypto exchange OKCoin, Mingxing “Star” Xu, recently became the largest individual shareholder of Hong-Kong-listed firm after completing an acquisition worth $60 million.

A construction engineering firm by the name of LEAP Holdings Group upon being acquired announced the news of the completed deal on Wednesday. The parent company of OKCoin, OKC Holdings Group, purchased a staggering 302 billion shares of the company at around $0.02 per share, thus successfully achieving the takeover.

This makes OKC Holdings Group the largest shareholder of LEAP Holdings as they now own 60.49% of their stock. They also now have the same percentage of voting rights. Due to this acquisition, OKCoin is notably closer to a back-door listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. (HKEX)

Furthermore, Xu holds the majority stake in OKC Holdings, owning 53.32% via two firms, StarXu Capital and OKEN Services Company.

Other big names who are shareholders within OKC Holdings are Gang Mai, who holds 5.08% via Vlab Capital and Bo Fend who owns 9.86% via Golden Status Ventures.

The application was initially filed for by OKC Holdings with the HKEK back on the 10th of January in order to purchase the controlling stake in LEAP Holdings Group with the deal closing in less than two weeks.

Reverse-Mergers Are Growing Popular:

Many crypto exchanges are opting for the reverse-merger route in an effort to be publicly listed companies, rather than going the conventional, IPO route which is complex and lengthy.

As reported by CoinBeat yesterday, South Korea’s Bithumb signed a binding letter of intent agreement with Blockchain Industries, a US-listed investment firm, for a reverse merger.

Back in August, Huobi, a Singapore-based crypto-exchange pursued a similar route by acquiring 66.26% of an HKEX-listed firm by the name of Pantronics Holdings for about $70 million.

Another notable name who took the reverse merger route is billionaire Mike Novogratz, who back in July 2018, merged his crypto merchant bank, Galaxy Digital with Bradmer Pharmaceuticals a Toronto-listed shell company so that his firm could be publicly listed in Canada?

Could the rise of reverse-merger acquisitions see more cryptocurrency companies being publicly listed? Let us know what your thoughts are by commenting below.

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