MEI Pharma, a publicly traded pharmaceutical company, has completed a $100 million private placement to fund its transition into a Litecoin-focused treasury firm. The company sold 29,239,767 shares at $3.42 per share, with Litecoin Foundation founder Charlie Lee leading the capital raise alongside digital asset market maker GSR.
Under the agreement, Lee will join MEI Pharma's board of directors while GSR will serve as treasury management advisor. The company plans to purchase Litecoin in tranches over the coming days/weeks using the $100 million raised, with transactions executed over-the-counter or via exchanges.
This strategic shift places MEI Pharma among a growing list of companies adopting cryptocurrency treasury strategies. In March, Canada's Luxxfolio acquired 4,982 LTC for its corporate holdings. The move follows Bitcoin-focused firms like Strategy, which holds $72 billion in BTC, while other companies like SharpLink Gaming ($1.3B ETH), Trident (XRP), and BitOrigin (DOGE) have similarly diversified into altcoins.
Litecoin, created from a Bitcoin fork in 2011, currently ranks as the 23rd-largest cryptocurrency with an $8.5 billion market capitalization. At publication time, LTC traded at $113.35, down 4.6% over 24 hours according to CoinGecko.