Hong Kong-listed wine firm Madison eyes cryptocurrency trading, to buy US$30 million stake in Japanese platform

Madison Holdings Group, which is listed on the GEM board of the Hong Kong stock exchange, and is otherwise best known for trading in fine French wine, plans to buy a stake in BitOcean, a Japanese cryptocurrency trading platform.

In a filing to the secondary board of the Hong Kong bourse this month, the company said Madison Lab, a subsidiary, is to acquire 67.2 per cent of BitOcean from independent third parties for 1.68 billion yen (US$15.12 million), plus about another US$15 million in various fees. The platform is one of 16 operators currently registered with Japan’s Financial Services Agency, but has not started trading yet.

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Meanwhile, HDR Cadenza Management, a subsidiary of Seychelles headquartered HDR Global Trading that owns the cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX, is considering a US$17.14 million, 51 per cent stake in a joint venture with Madison Labs. The deal has not been finalised, HDR said in a statement last week. The deal for BitOcean has also not been completed.

Raymond Ting Pang-wan, the chairman at Madison, said the deal for BitOcean was part of the company’s diversification strategy, and a partnership with BitMEX would help it develop its virtual currency trading platform.

“Our wine business is stable and profitable, but then it is small. It is hard to make wine trading into a very big business. This is why we have to diversify into financial technology and the cryptocurrency business – to achieve a better return for our shareholders,” Ting said in an interview.

“Virtual currencies and blockchain are getting more popular. Investing in the virtual currency sector will expand our income source,” he said.