Bitcoin Miner Riot Rejects Bitfarms Bid, Scraps Takeover

The bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) has withdrawn its offer to acquire Bitfarms (BITF) and plans to restructure the board before pursuing takeover actions.

Riot holds the most significant stake in Bitfarms, holding 14.9% of the company.

“Over more than a year of attempting to engage constructively with the Bitfarms Board regarding a potential combination of Bitfarms and Riot, it has become evident to Riot that good faith negotiations simply will not be possible until there is real change in the Bitfarms boardroom,” Riot stated in a press release issued on Monday.

For the position of current Bitfarms board member, the miner proposes Ralph Goehring, Amy Freedman, and John Delaney.

Riot, which has grown to be Bitfarms’ largest stakeholder with 14.9% of the firm, demanded a special meeting to fire director Andrés Finkielsztain, interim CEO Nicolas Bonta, and any other potential candidates to take over for co-founder Emiliano Grodzki’s resignation. After today, Riot intends to remove any more directors that the Bitfarms board has chosen.

Riot quickly rejected its offer to purchase Bitfarms for $2.30 per share, which led to the announcement of the hostile takeover proposal last month. Riot persisted in buying its rival’s shares to pressure the board to speak with the miner. After that, Bitfarms put a “poison pill” or shareholder rights plan in place to stop Riot from purchasing the business.

Riot stated that it will not give up on acquiring the company because a merger would establish the world’s biggest publicly traded bitcoin miner, one that is “well positioned for long-term growth.”

Even though the company is currently trading above its $2.30 per share buyout offer, Bitfarms’ shares tumbled more than 6% on Monday, suggesting that traders may still view BITF as a possible target for acquisition. Riot shares decreased after Bitcoin dropped 3% over the previous day.