Jumio assets to be sold to private equity firm Centana for $850K after shareholders oppose higher offer by Saverin that would have shielded him from litigation
Private-equity firm's bid for identity verification company gets green light over higher offer from Facebook co-founder Saverin Tweets: @robinwauters Tweets: Robin Wauters / @robinwauters : Such a weird story. I remember breaking that Saverin got involved with Jumio to begin with http://techcrunch.com/... http://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Jumio's collapse has been running for months: the company restated its 2013 and 2014 financials in December while offering investors warrants to head off lawsuits, then filed for bankruptcy in March having raised almost $37M, with early backer Eduardo Saverin lined up to buy the assets. Today's twist is that shareholders rejected Saverin's higher bid precisely because it would have shielded him personally from litigation, clearing the way instead for private-equity firm Centana at just $850K.
The gap between the raise total and the sale price frames why the vote mattered: shareholders chose an open field where their claims survive over a bigger number that came bundled with a liability shield for the buyer-insider.
First-order effects
- Saverin loses both the asset and the litigation protection his offer carried, while Centana acquires Jumio's identity-verification business for $850K — a fraction of the nearly $37M the company had raised.
Second-order effects
- Shareholders' decision keeps their legal claims alive rather than extinguishing them in a Saverin-led deal, making the pending litigation the real prize being preserved; Jumio itself continues operating under new ownership, as shown by the $15M raise it secured mid-bankruptcy months later.
Third-order effects
- The vote sets a precedent that bankruptcy courts and creditor groups may lean on: insider bids that embed personal legal immunity can be vetoed by shareholders even at a lower headline price, and the eventual $150M investment from Great Hill Partners in 2021 suggests the underlying identity-verification asset was worth far more than its fire-sale valuation.
The trend: Distressed startup exits are increasingly shaped by whether insiders can bundle personal liability protection into their bids — and by shareholders' growing willingness to vote such deals down.