Nasdaq-listed VivoPower (VVPR) is expanding its XRP-linked strategy through a new joint venture that aims to acquire hundreds of millions of dollars in Ripple Labs shares, giving investors indirect exposure to nearly $1 billion in underlying XRP.
The company said in a Tuesday release that its digital assets unit, Vivo Federation, has been engaged by South Korea-based asset manager Lean Ventures to raise an initial $300 million in Ripple Labs equity.
Based on current XRP prices, VivoPower estimates that the stake represents about 450 million XRP tokens worth about $900 million.
However, the structure stops short of buying XRP directly. Instead, Lean Ventures plans to establish a dedicated investment vehicle that will hold Ripple Labs shares picked up by Vivo Federation, targeting institutional and qualified retail investors in South Korea – one of XRP’s largest markets globally.
VivoPower said it has received approval from Ripple to purchase an initial tranche of preferred stock and is negotiating additional purchases from existing institutional owners.
It did not share further details about the transactions when asked by CoinDesk: “Please note that we are legally unable to respond to individual inquiries regarding transactions, acquisitions, mergers or other market-sensitive matters outside of what has been made public.”
A Ripple representative said the company was unable to comment on this matter as of Thursday.
As such, the company is not committing its own equity capital, but will earn management fees and performance carry, targeting $75 million in net economic returns over three years if the original $300 million mandate is met.
The event builds on VivoPower’s recent pivot towards an XRP-centric financial strategy. Earlier this year, the company raised $121 million in a private placement led by Saudi investor Abdulaziz bin Turki Abdulaziz Al Saud, positioning itself as one of the first publicly traded companies to anchor its digital asset strategy around XRP rather than bitcoin or ether.
VivoPower has already deployed XRP in dividend-generating strategies, including a $100 million allocation through Flare’s FAssets system and adopting Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin for treasury operations.
