CoinShares acquires French crypto asset manager Napoleon AM
The large European digital asset manager CoinShares is completing the acquisition of the French fintech company Napoleon Group despite the ongoing market downturn.
CoinShares announced on July 4 that the company has acquired Napoleon Asset Management, a subsidiary of digital asset management for Napoleon Group.
CoinShares previously entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) to purchase the entire issued share capital of Napoleon Crypto SAS for EUR 13.9 million ($ 14.5 million) in November 2021.
The latest acquisition came shortly after the French financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), approved the acquisition of Napoleon AM on 28 June. CoinShares then continued with the transaction in accordance with the terms set out in Group SPA June 2022.
Paris-based Napoleon AM was launched after completing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) at the end of 2018, raising over $ 10 million through the sale of NPX tokens. The company has received the license Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) and became one of the first European asset managers to be financed by an ICO and incorporated under French law.
At the end of 2019, Napoleon AM launched a regulated Bitcoin (BTC) fund, the Napoleon Bitcoin Fund.
The acquisition of Napoleon AM allows CoinShares to offer AIFM-compatible products and services, as well as being a major issuer of cryptocurrency exchanges in Europe. The license enables the company to offer marketing services across the EU, and expand CoinShares’ products with algorithmic trading and artificial intelligence tools developed by Napoleon AM.
The transaction is further proof that CoinShares continues to scale despite the ongoing market downturn, CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti told Cointelegraph, stating:
“CoinShares continues to grow despite market conditions. The bear market is an opportunity to consolidate positions and build new products and services.”
According to the CEO, it is important to have an AIFM-regulated entity in CoinShares’ group because it is “one of the most demanding licenses.”
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“CoinShares has always been at the forefront of regulation, it is a strong advocate for regulation in the digital asset industry and has a comprehensive list of regulated products and services,” Mognetti added.