Bitfarms sets vote date after rival Riot proposes new board members
Riot Platforms called for the meeting after seeking to acquire Bitfarms via a deal the company ultimately rejected
Mark Agnor/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Bitfarms scheduled a special shareholder meeting for late October as rival bitcoin miner Riot Platforms seeks to replace two of the company’s directors.
Riot called for the meeting after seeking to acquire Bitfarms via a so-called hostile takeover bid, which was ultimately rejected.
The meeting’s Oct. 29 date is more than three months from now.
Bitfarms said in a Friday news release that it was important to give shareholders “a reasonable period of time” to evaluate Riot’s proposal given that Riot “seeks a reconstitution of a majority of the board to gain control of the company.”
Riot has called out Bitfarms for “poor corporate governance practices and consistent inability to realize Bitfarms’ full potential.” It previously requisitioned a vote to replace directors Nicolas Bonta, Andrés Finkielsztain and Fanny Philip with three other independent directors it nominated.
Read more: Riot nominates directors for Bitfarms board as part of takeover saga
Bonta had been Bitfarms’ interim CEO until the miner elevated Ben Gagnon, its former chief mining officer, to the CEO role earlier this week.
Riot ramped up its holdings in Bitfarms last month, increasing its share ownership in the company to 14%.
Bitfarms has accused Riot of disrupting the company’s “strategic alternatives review process,” which Bitfarms launched to evaluate its next steps.
A shareholder rights plan Bitfarms floated last month may also be considered at the October meeting, the company said. The plan essentially seeks to issue more company shares as a way to limit the control of any one shareholder. Specifically, the plan would allow the company to attach a right to each issued common share that becomes exercisable if an owner holds 15% or more of Bitfarms’ outstanding shares.
“The company remains committed to constructive engagement with all shareholders and remains hopeful that Riot will seek to constructively engage with the company so that Bitfarms need not expend its limited cash resources to protect the interests of its stakeholders against the actions of Riot,” Bitfarms said in the Friday release.
A Riot spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
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