Bitcoin mining giant Riot has announced plans to acquire small-scale miner Bitfarm in a hostile takeover that, if successful, would make the combined company the world's largest publicly traded miner.
American miner Announced The company announced on Tuesday that Bitfarm had rejected its private proposal made last month.
Riot announced today that it has acquired a 9.25% stake in Bitfarms, making it the miner’s largest shareholder, and is now offering to buy the company for $2.30 per share.
Bitfarms shares (NASDAQ: BITF) rose on the news, up about 8% today and currently trading at $2.18 per share.
“We are disappointed to learn that Bitfarm's board of directors has rejected our compelling proposal without any substantive dialogue with us,” Riot Chairman Benjamin Yi said in a statement.
“We have long admired Bitfarm's business and management team and are confident that Bitfarm's shareholders would agree that this proposal represents a much more attractive option for Bitfarm than a standalone trajectory,” he added.
Following the recent firing of BitFarm CEO Jeffrey Morphy, Riot CEO Jason Leth said BitFarm had mismanaged its business.
“We are deeply concerned that Bitfarm's founding board members, Nicholas Bonta and Emiliano Grodzki, are not acting in the best interests of all Bitfarm shareholders,” he said, adding that Morphy's sudden firing and the lawsuits filed by the fired executives “raise serious questions.”
Bitfarm fired Morphy this month after he filed a lawsuit against the miner seeking $27 million in damages for breach of contract. The company declined to comment. Decryptionquestion of.
Editor: Andrew Hayward
