Bitcoin Miner CleanSpark (CLSK) Buys Out GRIID In $155 Million Stock Transaction

CleanSpark (CLSK) – one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining firms – announced on Thursday that it had acquired one of its smaller competitors, GRIID Infrastructure, in an all-stock deal.

The $155 million deal immediately brings 20 megawatts (MW) of additional power to CleanSpark to bolster its mining operations. Another 400 MW of power is expected to be added in Tennessee over the next two years.

CleanSpark Acquired GRIID For $155 Million

The merger agreement required CleanSpark to assume all debts and other obligations from GRIID. It also required CleanSpark to provide GRIID with a $5 million working capital loan, and to pay down a bridge loan of $50.9 million to satisfy other obligations from the smaller miner.

“This acquisition would give us a clear and steady path over the next three years to accomplish in Tennessee what we proudly achieved in Georgia over the past three years,” said Zach Bradford, CleanSpark’s CEO, in a press release.

“That achievement was to build out over 400 MW of infrastructure backed by valuable, long-term power contracts.”

Following the announcement, shares for GRIID tanked more than 50% while CLSK shares popped by 4%, implying that traders viewed the merger agreement as a fire sale.

CleanSpark’s shares closed on Thursday at $16.05 apiece, implying a market cap of $3.6 billion for the firm, according to Google Finance. The company has been one of the best-performing mining stocks year to date (+47%), defying the trajectory of most industry players whose stock sank heavily prior to the Bitcoin halving.

Bitcoin Mining Acquisitions

CleanSpark isn’t the only mining firm to announce an acquisition in recent months. Since late May, Riot Platforms (RIOT) has been attempting a hostile takeover of Bitfarms (BITF), offering to buy out the firm at $2.30 per share.

Bitfarms initially rejected a buyout offer a month prior, with Riot suggesting that the company’s directors were not “acting in the best interests of all shareholders.”

As of Thursday, BITF closed at $2.59 per share. RIOT is down 11% since last month at $9.12 a share.

Core Scientific (CORZ) – the former largest mining firm that recently emerged from bankruptcy – is now eyeing a potential $1 billion buyout offer from cloud computing firm CoreWeave. Since the offer, CORZ shares are up 92% this month.