Insolvent crypto lender Voyager Digital (CSE:VYGR, OTCQX:VYGVF) has slapped down a buyout offer by Sam Bankman-Fried’s venture fund Alameda Research, court documents reveal.
The offer, forwarded to Voyager’s lawyers on Friday July 22, proposed a purchase of all remaining digital assets and digital asset loans held by Voyager excluding those owed by Three Arrows Capital.
Under the rejected deal, customers would have been given immediate access to 75% of their withheld assets under a voluntary basis, while also retaining a claim to future assets recovered from Voyager’s primary creditor Three Arrows Capital.
Lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis said: “Voyager will entertain any serious proposal… It seems clear, however, that AlamedaFTX’s proposal, which was made in contravention of the proposed bidding procedures, was designed to generate publicity for itself rather than value for Voyager’s customers.”
Voyager’s counsel accused the deal of being harmful to customers, calling it “a low-ball bid dressed up as a white knight rescue”.
In retaliation, Bankman-Fried criticised Voyager for failing to return customers' funds, despite estimating that 75% still remains with the company.
According to Bankman-Fried, a prolonged bankruptcy process could see “Voyager's consultants… slowly draining the remaining funds by charging fees every month the bankruptcy process dragged on”.
1) Voyager lost customer assets, but it still has the majority left.
Why haven't those been returned to customers yet?
Sad facts from a bankruptcy process.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) July 25, 2022
Alameda Research has its own US$75mln stake in Voyager’s bankruptcy, which Bankman-Fried conceded could be lost under the bailout proposal.
Voyager Digital was one of the worst hit in the recent bout of bankruptcies that has plagued the crypto sector.
Ther Toronto-listed crypto lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early July before the New York courts.