The volume of deals involving bitcoin mining is increasing, as CleanSpark (CLSK) has committed to purchasing rival GRIID Infrastructure (GRDI) for $155 million in all-stock. According to a statement released on Thursday, CleanSpark will pay off the $5 million bridging loan, which represents roughly $50.9 million, and assume all of GRIID’s debt and other obligations as part of the transaction.
“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 CleanSpark’s CEO Zach Bradford. “That achievement was to build out over 400 MW of infrastructure backed by valuable, long-term power contracts.”
Following the announcement, CleanSpark’s shares increased by about 4%, while GRIID’s fell by more than 50%, suggesting that traders are likely viewing the acquisition as a fire sale. The announcement coincides with a spike in bitcoin mining mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a result of the industry’s recent halving, which further heightened competition in an already cutthroat market.A hostile takeover attempt has been going on between Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Bitfarms (BITF) recently, while Core Scientific (CORZ) is also being considered for acquisition by a cloud computing company.
According to the announcement, CleanSpark expects this contract to finish in the third quarter and that by year’s end, Tennessee’s capacity will have surpassed 100 MW. Over time, that capacity will expand to 200 MW next year and more than 400 MW in 2026. Additionally, the companies have a hosting agreement in which CleanSpark will receive 20 megawatt (MW) of power capacity. After multiple delays brought on by the harsh crypto winter, GRIID was created in 2018 and went public on the Nasdaq earlier this year. At the moment, the miner operates mining sites in Limestone, Maynardville, Watertown, New York, and Lenoir City, Tennessee.