Bitcoin (BTC) miner CleanSpark has announced a merger with GRIID Infrastructure in a $155-million transaction.
According to an announcement on June 27, CleanSpark acquired all the issued and outstanding common stock of GRIID in an all-stock transaction. Under the deal, CleanSpark will assume all of GRIID’s debts. It also entails an exclusive hosting agreement, allocating 20 megawatts of power to CleanSpark.
In addition, CleanSpark has provided a $5-million working capital loan to GRIID, along with $50.9 million to settle immediate obligations. The deal is expected to add more than 400 MW of power to CleanSpark over the next few years.
“We anticipate that this will allow us to exceed 100 megawatts in Tennessee by the end of this calendar year and eventually grow that to 200 megawatts in 2025 before exceeding 400 megawatts in 2026,” said Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark. “At every step of the way we will continue to work together with local communities as we build infrastructure capable of powering as much as one gigawatt of data center operations in Tennessee.”
CleanSpark’s stock, which trades under the symbol CLSK, rose 2.2% to $16.44 on June 27, marking a year-to-date gain of over 50%.
As of February 2024, GRIID operated two mining facilities in East Tennessee, along with a co-located facility in New York. The sites have 68 MW of mining capacity, the majority of which is located in Tennessee. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to increase its mining capacity in the Tennessee Valley to nearly 150 MW. GRIID is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Data center acquisitions
Bitcoin (BTC) miners have been expanding their portfolio of data centers in recent months. Marathon Digital, for instance, acquired in December two operational mining sites from Generate Capital, enabling the firm to double its hashrate over two years.
Earlier this month, CleanSpark announced more acquisitions — five mining facilities in Georgia — adding a combined 60 MW of power to its operations. In March, the company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to sell up to $800 million of its stock and raise additional capital.
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