Bitcoin Miner Riot Platforms Ditches Bitfarms Takeover Bid, Seeks to Overhaul Board
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms has withdrawn its proposal to acquire Bitfarms, and plans to restructure the board before making further takeover attempts. Riot, which owns 14.9% of Bitfarms and is its largest shareholder, has nominated John Delaney, Amy Freedman and Ralph Goehring to replace the current Bitfarms board members. Riot also called for a special meeting to remove Bitfarms' Chairman and interim CEO Nicolas Bonta, director Andrés Finkielsztain and any other directors appointed by the current board. Riot's hostile takeover bid was made public last month when it offered to buy Bitfarms for $2.30 per share, which was quickly rejected. Bitfarms then implemented a shareholder rights plan to deter Riot from buying the company. Despite this, Riot plans to continue pursuing a takeover. Bitfarms shares fell more than 6% on Monday, while Riot shares were slightly down as bitcoin fell 3% in the last 24 hours.
