Kasikorn Bank snaps up 97% stake in cryptocurrency exchange Satang for $103m
Bangkok-headquartered Kasikorn Bank (K-Bank), Thailand’s fourth largest bank by way of assets, has acquired a 97% stake in the Satang Corporation, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Satang, for 3.7 billion Thai baht ($102.8 million).
K-Bank acquires majority stake in Satang for $103m
A filing made with the Stock Exchange of Thailand this week by K-Bank president Pipit Aneaknithi shows that the acquisition has been made through Unita Capital, the bank’s fully owned subsidiary and investment arm for digital asset companies.
Satang Corporation is to be rebranded to Orbix Trade Company once the deal has been completed, and will be further divided into three different subsidiaries.
These include Orbix Technology and Innovation, a blockchain infrastructure development company; Orbix Invest, a digital asset fund management company; and Orbix Custodian, a digital asset custodian.
The filing also reveals that the latter two subsidiaries are in the process of requesting a business licence.
Satang claims to be the oldest regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand and has operated in the country since 2017, offering asset tokenisation, customisable blockchain and digital asset exchange services.
For K-Bank, the deal marks a promising step forward in its ability to offer cryptocurrency-related services, in addition to its existing suite of personal, corporate and wealth management offerings.
The bank previously engaged in the development of the Bank of Thailand’s blockchain-based platform for government savings bonds in 2020, while its latest move to buy up Satang comes just over a month after it established the Kasikorn X Venture Capital fund to invest in Web3, deep tech and AI start-ups in the APAC region.
