Swedish health tech company H100 has completed key procedures for an acquisition deal to increase its bitcoin holdings by about three times. If the deal is completed, H100 is expected to become the listed company with the second-largest bitcoin holdings in Europe.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain media outlet, reported on June 24 local time that H100 shareholders approved an agenda item to issue new shares to acquire Norwegian investment firms Moonshot AS and Never Say Die AS. The approval allows H100 to proceed with acquiring about 2,450 bitcoin held by the two companies in exchange for shares.

H100 currently holds 1,051 bitcoin. When the deal is completed, its total holdings will increase to about 3,500, approaching nearly three times the current level.

The deal is structured as a share swap with no cash payment. Post-merger ownership will be determined based on the amount of bitcoin each company contributes. Under terms H100 disclosed in March, existing shareholders of Moonshot and Never Say Die will become the largest shareholders, holding about 70 percent of the combined company after the deal closes.

If the deal is finalised, H100 is likely to become the listed company with the second-largest bitcoin holdings in Europe after Germany's Bitcoin Group SE. By BitcoinTreasuries.com tallies, H100 will also move into the top tier of bitcoin-holding companies among European listed firms.

The market also reacted positively. H100 shares rose 9.6 percent on June 24. Still, the stock remains down about 30 percent so far this year, based on Yahoo Finance.

The deal is drawing attention as it is being pursued at a time when market conditions around bitcoin treasury strategies have become more difficult than before. As cryptocurrency prices stay weak, pressure is also increasing on companies' bitcoin purchase strategies.

French semiconductor company Sequence Communications announced in May that it would end its bitcoin treasury strategy and gradually sell its 658 bitcoin holdings. The company said it plans to focus its capabilities on its Internet of Things semiconductor business going forward.

Strategy, the world's largest corporate bitcoin holder, is also facing growing pressure from fundraising. Earlier this month, Strategy's preferred shares STRC fell below the target par value of $100, and the pace of its bitcoin purchases also slowed noticeably. It bought more than 34,000 bitcoin in a week in April and about 25,000 in May, but added only about 1,500 in each of the first 2 weeks of June.

Ki Young-ju (기영주), chief executive of CryptoQuant, advised that "Strategy should temporarily stop additional bitcoin purchases and restore cash liquidity" and that "systematic standards are needed for both buying and selling."

Against this backdrop, H100's deal is viewed as an example showing that listed companies are still continuing strategies to incorporate bitcoin as a core treasury asset.

But the expansion is not a direct purchase of bitcoin using cash. It is structured as acquiring a company that holds bitcoin through a share swap. With a change in the largest shareholder and a major reshuffling of the ownership structure expected after completion, it differs in nature from a typical bitcoin purchase strategy.

The market is watching whether H100's acquisition will be finalised and whether the case can establish itself as a new model for bitcoin treasury strategies among European listed companies.