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

CleanSpark (CLSK) — one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies — announced Thursday that it has acquired one of its smaller rivals, GRIID Infrastructure, in an all-stock deal.

The $155 million deal immediately brings 20 megawatts of additional power to CleanSpark to boost its mining operations, and another 400 megawatts 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 debt and other liabilities of GRIID. It also asked CleanSpark to provide GRIID with a $5 million working capital loan, and to repay a $50.9 million bridge loan to meet other obligations from the smaller mining company.

“This acquisition will give us a clear and consistent path over the next three years to accomplish what we have proudly accomplished in Georgia over the past three years in Tennessee,” CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford said in a statement. press release.

“This achievement was the construction of more than 400 megawatts of infrastructure supported by valuable, long-term energy contracts.”

Following the announcement, GRIID shares fell more than 50% while CLSK shares rose 4%, implying that traders view the merger agreement as a fire sale.

CleanSpark shares closed Thursday at $16.05 per share, meaning the company has a market cap of $3.6 billion, according to Google Finance. The company has been one of the best-performing mining stocks to date (+47%), defying the path of most industry players whose shares fell significantly before the Bitcoin halving.

Bitcoin Mining Acquisitions

CleanSpark isn’t the only mining company 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 the company at $2.30 per share.

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

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

Core Scientific (CORZ), the former largest mining company that recently emerged from bankruptcy, is now eyeing a potential $1 billion takeover bid from cloud computing company CoreWeave. Since the offering, CORZ shares have risen 92% this month.