VivoPower Dumps Ripple Stake For Data Centers
Key Summary
British firm VivoPower dumped its $5.0M Ripple Labs equity stake to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure, securing a $300 per share buyback from the issuer while locking remaining shares in Korean depositories.
Key Bullets
- VivoPower liquidated its $5.0M stake in Ripple Labs just nine months after launching a planned $100M treasury expansion.
- Ripple Labs bought back 882 shares at $300 apiece in April 2026, generating $264,600 in cash and $159,122 in net profit.
- Independent appraisers reduced the book value of the remaining 40,928 locked shares to $4.3M due to severe secondary liquidity constraints.
- Management redirected the freed capital to purchase a 41.5 MW data center in Mo i Rana, Norway, for $37.7M.
VivoPower Liquidates Ripple Equity Holdings
British firm VivoPower dumped 41,810 shares of Ripple Labs to terminate its corporate crypto strategy, according to annual financial filings submitted Tuesday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The treasury shift abandoned a broader plan initiated in May 2025 to allocate $100.0M into digital assets and private equity. Management reversed course by February 2026. The board voted to abandon digital tokens entirely.
Corporate executives redirected the capital into artificial intelligence hardware and physical infrastructure. VivoPower spent $37.7M to acquire a 41.5 MW data center in Mo i Rana, Norway. Digital assets lost their appeal. Physical servers won out.
Issuer Buyback Sets Valuation Benchmark
Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate that Ripple Labs executed a targeted private buyback in April 2026, purchasing 882 shares from VivoPower at $300 apiece. That transaction yielded $264,600 in cash for the British company. The sale delivered $159,122 in net profit on that specific tranche. Private share pricing remained opaque until now.
Trading private fintech equity on open markets proved impossible because of strict corporate transfer restrictions. The issuer itself served as the primary liquidity provider for an expedited exit. The remaining shares required alternative disposal methods.
Locked Shares Face Korean Depository Restrictions
Public filings indicate that VivoPower arranged to offload the remaining 40,928 shares to two South Korean entities, KWeather Co. and Lean Ventures. Those cross-border transactions remain legally incomplete pending regulatory clearance. The securities reside in the Korea Securities Depository under a mandatory one-year lock-up period.
Independent valuation firms adjusted the book value of the restricted stake down to $4.3M, valuing each locked share at approximately $106.16. Illiquidity crushed the valuation. The holding sits frozen.
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