RIOT Seeks Boardroom Shakeup in Hostile Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF) Takeover Bid

As Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) attempts a hostile takeover of Bitcoin (BTC-USD) miner Bitfarms (NASDAQ:BITF) (TSE:BITF), RIOT has called a special meeting of Bitfarms’ shareholders to vote on three new board nominees.

Bitfarms now has 21 days to schedule a special meeting for shareholders to vote on removing Chairman and interim CEO Nicolas Bonta, director Andrés Finkielsztain, and any individual filling the vacancy left by co-founder Emiliano Grodzki, who was voted off the BITF board at its last annual meeting.

Riot has nominated three candidates for the Bitfarms board: John Delaney, the former mayor of Jacksonville, Florida; Ralph Goehring; and Amy Freedman, an adviser to Ewing Morris and the former CEO of Kingsdale Advisors.

RIOT’s Hostile Bid for BITF

RIOT has built around a 15% stake in BITF and made an unsolicited offer of $950 million for BITF last month. However, RIOT has now withdrawn its offer of $2.30 per share, believing that Bitfarms needs boardroom changes to engage in negotiations with the company in “good faith.”

Riot has cited corporate governance issues at Bitfarms, including high management turnover. Last month, Bitfarms fired interim CEO Geoffrey Morphy, who subsequently sued the company for $27 million in damages over breach of contract.

Is Bitfarms a Good Stock to Buy?

Analysts are bullish about BITF stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on six Buys and one Hold. Over the past year, BITF has skyrocketed by more than 100%, and the average BITF price target of $4.25 implies an upside potential of 53.2% from current levels.