Ripple has decided to withdraw from the proposed deal to acquire Nevada-based chartered trust company, Fortress Trust. Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, shared the update on X (formerly Twitter), stating that despite the earlier signing of a letter of intent, they have opted not to proceed with a complete acquisition.
However, Ripple will maintain its role as an investor in Fortress Trust.
“A few weeks ago, we signed a letter of intent to acquire Fortress Trust – we’ve since made the decision not to move forward with an outright acquisition, though Ripple will remain an investor in @Fortress_io,” he said in his tweet.
On September 8, Ripple announced that it plans to acquire Fortress for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be less than the $250 million spent on the custody firm Metaco in May.
The decision to back out of the acquisition came after Fortress Trust reported the theft of customers’ cryptocurrency amounting to nearly $15 million. The blame was attributed to an unnamed third-party vendor, Retool, which fell victim to a phishing attack.
Ripple clarified that discussions about the acquisition had begun before the theft, but the incident expedited the decision-making process.
Despite the altered outcome from the original plan, Garlinghouse praised the talent of the Fortress team and acknowledged their contributions in solving real customer problems.
“The Fortress team is incredibly talented, and has built products solving real customer problems. While this outcome is different from what was originally planned, we’ll continue to support them and hope to work together in the future!” Garlinghouse stated.
