Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms (RIOT.O) announced on Tuesday that it has increased its stake in rival Bitfarms (BITF.TO) to 18.9%. Riot acquired 1 million common shares of Bitfarms, which represents approximately 0.22% of Bitfarms’ issued and outstanding stock. This acquisition raises Riot’s total holdings in Bitfarms to about 85.3 million shares.
In a related development, Bitfarms revealed that Nicolas Bonta, co-founder and chair of the company, would be leaving his position immediately. Bonta was one of the three board members that Riot had attempted to replace in a recent dispute.
The conflict between Riot and Bitfarms dates back to April, when Riot made an unsolicited offer of $950 million to acquire the Canadian-based company. Bitfarms deemed the bid significantly undervalued and implemented a “poison pill” strategy to block any hostile takeover attempts. A poison pill is a defensive measure used by companies to deter unwanted takeover bids by diluting the value of their shares or making the acquisition prohibitively expensive.
Following the withdrawal of its acquisition offer, Riot has continued to seek influence at Bitfarms. The company is now pursuing three seats on Bitfarms’ board and has expressed its readiness to engage with the newly reconstituted board regarding potential future transactions.
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