Maltese Blockchain firm Palladium recently launched the first Initial Convertible Coin Offering (ICCO) in the world at the Malta Stock Exchange just a few days after the country’s parliament introduced the blockchain regulating law.
For this project, Palladium has teamed up with Unikrn, the eSports betting platform and Bittrex, an American virtual currency exchange. As per the reports, Palladium wants to raise €150 million through this ICCO. The company is being run by Paolo Catalfamo, who owns 85% shares in the blockchain firm and is also the executive chairman of GlobalCapital, a Maltese insurance firm.
Palladium to issue tokenized convertible warrant
According to Catalfamo, the company is planning to invest half of this amount to acquire a controlling stake in a European bank. Around 35% of these funds will be directed towards developing a new virtual currency exchange operating under the Malta Financial Services Authority regulation and the remaining 15% will be used for strategic investments in blockchain and financial services companies.
Through the ICCO, the blockchain company will be selling a “tokenized convertible warrant” that will give users the power to convert tokens into the company’s shares three years from the date of issuance. It is where the ICCO of Palladium differs from the traditional ICO. The company has already started pre-selling tokens. The tokenized securities subscription will start from July 25 to September 30.
Palladium to acquire majority of shares of a bank
In March this year, Catalfamo stated that Palladium has made a binding offer to acquire a majority of shares in the Lombard Bank of Malta. According to Catalfamo, “Palladium is preparing an application for a banking license and in the meantime it has identified a short list of potential acquisition targets in Europe.”
GlobalCapital in its official company statement said that Palladium’s offer has received finance from York Capital, a private equity firm. However, just a day later, York Capital denied making such an offer and Catalfamo had to apologize for being premature in handling the finance issue.
However, the founder of Palladium stated that he is still planning for the bid but refused to name any bank.