Last week, Senator Dany Wattebled and Representative Philippe Latombe submitted a high-profile case to the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office regarding MARA’s acquisition of Exaion. What are the key takeaways?
2 lawmakers call on the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office regarding MARA’s acquisition of Exaion
Since the announcement of a potential acquisition of Exaion, a subsidiary of EDF, by Bitcoin (BTC) mining giant MARA, much ink has been spilled over the sovereignty issues this raises.
While a few political figures have already taken up the issue, it is now the turn of Senator Dany Wattebled and Representative Philippe Latombe. As the newspaper La Lettre points out, the lawmakers indeed filed a report last week with the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF), denouncing the ongoing transaction and requesting a thorough investigation.
Thus, La Lettre reports that on July 25, Fatih Balyeli, Exaion’s CEO, and Laurent Bernou-Mazars, the company’s CTO, acquired a stake in Exaion on February 17, 2023, by purchasing a total of 5.75% of the company’s shares for an investment of just over 126,000 euros. On July 25, the two individuals were granted stock options, bringing their respective stakes to 4.25% for the former and 3.21% for the latter.
With MARA’s acquisition of Exaion and the resulting increase in Exaion’s valuation, this could yield nearly €1.69 million for Fatih Balyeli and €1.27 million for Laurent Bernou-Mazars—a return of over 2,000% in two years.
Furthermore, the allocation of bonus shares and stock options to the company’s management amounting to 20% of Exaion’s capital last February, as well as MARA’s intention to grant 15% of shares to Exaion’s management, are also highlighted.
In total, the report cites a potential “personal enrichment exceeding 33 million euros” for the two aforementioned executives.
Furthermore, the two lawmakers highlighted the ties between MARA and Gérard Mestrallet, former CEO of Engie and Emmanuel Macron’s special envoy for the France-Morocco energy partnership and for the India-Middle East-Europe (IMEC) economic corridor. Although still in office, Mestrallet was appointed as an advisor to MARA last August.
Overall, the document does not hold back in its choice of terms to describe this transaction, citing suspicions of influence peddling, misuse of corporate assets, illegal conflict of interest, and even organized fraud.
This is a story to watch, as this thorny issue is likely to remain in the headlines over the coming weeks.
