FTX Asks Court to Sell Four Businesses, Including LedgerX, FTX Japan and FTX Europe

Lawyers representing FTX are seeking permission from a U.S. bankruptcy court to sell off the firm's Japanese and European branches, derivatives exchange LedgerX and stock-clearing platform Embed.

In fact, the company's new leadership asked a federal bankruptcy judge for permission to sell off parts of the failed crypto empire’s business early next year — while those subsidiaries of FTX are still valuable.

“The longer operations are suspended, the greater the risk to the value of the assets and the risk of a permanent revocation of licenses,” lawyers from law firm Sullivan and Cromwell said on behalf of the company.

FTX Japan is currently subject to business suspension and improvement orders, while FTX Europe has had its licenses and operations suspended.

They also pointed to the loss of customers and employees the businesses have experienced since FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, and believe selling these businesses now would allow the resumption of operations and therefore maximize value to the FTX estate.

The lawyers said these businesses were recently acquired and have been operating relatively independently of FTX, which would make a potential sale process much less complex.

Proposed dates for the bidding and sale approval process vary by subsidiary, but preliminary bids are due from mid-January to early February. Final bids are due mid-February to mid-March, and auction dates run from late February to late March. After those auctions, the presiding judge, John Dorsey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, will hold hearings to approve winning bids.

Objections to the sale proposal are due Dec. 29, and a hearing on the topic is scheduled for Jan. 11.

If only one qualified bid is made on a business before the final bid deadline, FTX’s leadership proposes cancelling the auction and seeking approval for that bid.