Riot Platforms Boosts Bitfarms Stake with Additional Share Acquisition

Riot Platforms announced the purchase of an additional 1,432,063 shares of Bitfarms stock. The acquisition, which was completed on June 10 for approximately $2.7 per share, represents an investment of approximately $3.87 million.

This latest move brings Riot's total holdings to approximately 57.62 million shares, representing approximately 14% of Bitfarms.

Continuing Riot Control Company control

this advertisement It is part of Riot's ongoing attempt to acquire Bitfarms. Last month, Riot made an offer to acquire Bitfarms for approximately $950 million. On May 28, Riot acquired a 9.25% stake, making it the largest shareholder in the company. Riot expanded its stake by purchasing an additional 1.5 million shares on June 5.

In response to Riot's aggressive acquisition strategy, Bitfarms has taken defensive measures, most notably adopting a “poison pill” earlier this week. This strategy aims to prevent a takeover by making Bitfarms less attractive to potential acquirers and diluting Riot's ownership stake.

Under Bitfarms' strategy, if any entity acquires more than 15% of Bitfarms' shares between June 20 and September 10, the company will issue new shares to dilute that entity's ownership stake.

Meanwhile, Bitfarms shares to attest It rose 15% earlier today following the announcement that the 2025 hashrate is expected to exceed 35 exahash/s due to the development of the first large-scale mining site in the United States.

Riot Platforms CEO criticizes Bitfarms' defensive tactics

Riot Platforms CEO Jason Lees has been vocal in his criticism of Bitfarms' defensive tactics. In a statement on Wednesday, he said: Why? He said“Instead of engaging with us privately and in good faith, Bitfarms responded by executing a toxic pill off the market with a trigger well below the usual 20% threshold.”

Lees also accused Bitfarms' board of directors of entrenchment and neglecting the interests of shareholders, referring to the dismissal of the company's co-founder Emiliano Grodzki by shareholders less than two weeks ago.

“This action also demonstrates the Bitfarms board’s entrenchment and disregard for shareholders’ views,” Lees stated. He also called for the resignation of Chairman and Interim CEO Nicola Bonta, citing weak corporate governance under Bonta's leadership since 2018.

“We will continue to push to address the serious corporate governance issues at Bitfarms and ensure shareholders have a say in the company’s path forward.” In line with this, Riot Platforms also plans to request a special meeting of Bitfarms shareholders to nominate several independent directors to the Board of Directors.