Bitcoin Miner Riot Platforms Ditches Bitfarms Takeover Bid, Seeks to Overhaul Board

Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT) dropped its proposal to buy peer Bitfarms (BITF) and is looking to overhaul the board before engaging in further takeover attempts.

"Over the course of 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 said in a press release on Monday.

The miner is nominating John Delaney, Amy Freedman and Ralph Goehring to replace the current Bitfarms board members.

Riot, which became Bitfarms' largest shareholder and owns 14.9% of the company, called for a special meeting to remove Bitfarms' Chairman and interim CEO Nicolas Bonta, director Andrés Finkielsztain and anyone who might fill the vacancy created by the resignation of co-founder Emiliano Grodzki. Riot will also look to remove any additional director appointed by the current board of Bitfarms after today.

The hostile takeover bid became public last month after Riot offered to buy Bitfarms for $2.30 per share, an approach that was swiftly rejected. Riot continued to buy its rival's shares to exert pressure on the board to engage with the miner. Subsequently, BItfarms implemented a shareholder rights plan or "poison pill" to deter Riot from buying the company.

Riot said it will continue pursuing a takeover because a combination would create the world's largest publicly listed bitcoin miner that is "well positioned for long-term growth."

Bitfarms shares fell more than 6% on Monday, although the stock is trading above its $2.30 per share buyout offer, implying the traders still see BITF as a potential takeover target. Riot shares were slightly down as bitcoin fell 3% in the last 24 hours.