Ripple initiating $285 million share buyback that values company at $11 billion

Crypto-payments firm Ripple Labs is planning to buy back $285 million worth of its shares from early investors, a move that will value the company at $11.3 billion, according to a company spokesperson.

Early investors will only be able to sell as much as 6% of their holdings, according to Reuters, which cited anonymous sources and first reported the news. Ripple plans to spend $500 million "to cover the costs of converting restricted stock units into shares and taxes," Reuters also reported.

Ripple, well known for its use of the XRP +0.49% digital token, is privately owned. Company CEO Brad Garlinghouse said it plans on more buybacks to provide liquidity for investors but does not plan to bring Ripple public in the U.S. given regulatory uncertainty, according to the report.

Expansion abroad

Last October, Ripple celebrated the dismissal of all charges against its executives in an ongoing lawsuit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Since then it has been working to expand in Europe and Africa.

Garlinghouse also said Ripple possesses more than $1 billion cash and over $25 billion in digital assets crypto, made up mostly of XRP coins, on its balance sheet, the report also said.