Tether, the issuer behind the practically $150 billion USDT stablecoin, has finalized the acquisition of a 70% stake within the Latin American agricultural agency Adecoagro (AGRO), which has a market cap of practically a billion {dollars}.
Tether initially invested $100 million in Adecoagro in September 2024 for a 9.8% stake, then provided to extend it to 51% in February, and at last raised it to manage 70% in March.
Learn extra: Tether’s $100M Funding in LatAm Agriculture Agency Could Be a Tokenization Play
This majority stake provides Tether management over one of many area’s most distinguished meals and bioenergy producers. Adecoagro owns sugar mills, rice farms, dairy operations, and renewable power belongings throughout Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Tether stated it goals to assist scale Adecoagro’s output whereas aligning the corporate with its mission of fostering “financial freedom” by decentralized finance and funding in underserved markets.
The transfer may be a part of Tether’s ambition to tokenize real-world belongings, because it launched its asset tokenization service Hadron final 12 months. The platform was designed to simplify the method of changing a variety of real-world belongings, together with bonds, commodities, shares, different stablecoins, and loyalty factors into digital tokens on blockchain rails.
Learn extra: Tether Unveils New Platform to Simplify Asset Tokenization for Companies, Nation-States
“By aligning with in Adecoagro’s confirmed experience in agriculture and renewable power, we’re taking one other concrete step towards bridging conventional industries with the way forward for decentralized finance and financial empowerment,” stated Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
Following the deal, Adecoagro’s board was additionally reshuffled. 5 members stepped down and had been changed by executives tied to Tether and its strategic targets. Juan Sartori, a Uruguayan businessman with political and agricultural pursuits, took over as chairman.
Prior to now 12 months, Tether has launched ventures in bitcoin mining, AI, and encrypted communications. AGRO’s shares had been up 2.6% on Wednesday.
Learn extra: Tether’s $100M Funding in LatAm Agriculture Agency Could Be a Tokenization Play
Disclaimer: Components of this text had been generated with the help from AI instruments and reviewed by our editorial group to make sure accuracy and adherence to our requirements. For extra info, see CoinDesk’s full AI Coverage.