Business
Riot Requisitions Special Meeting of Bitfarms Shareholders and Nominates Three Highly Qualified, Independent Directors to Bring Urgently Needed Change to Bitfarms Board
New Independent Directors Are Necessary to Fix Bitfarms’ Broken Corporate Governance and to Oversee a Fair Strategic Alternatives Process Riot Urges the
About this update from Riot Platforms, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nNew Independent Directors Are Necessary to Fix Bitfarms’ Broken Corporate Governance and to Oversee a Fair Strategic Alternatives Process\n\n\nRiot Urges the Bitfarms Board to Ensure Shareholders Are Heard by Holding the Special Meeting Without Delay\n\n\nRiot Withdraws Previous Proposal to Acquire Bitfarms for US$2.30 Per Share; Stands Ready to Engage with Reconstituted Bitfarms Board Regarding a Potential Transaction\n\n\n CASTLE ROCK, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nRiot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) (“Riot”) today announced that it has requisitioned a special meeting of Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) (“Bitfarms” or the “Company”) shareholders (the “Special Meeting”) to reconstitute the Bitfarms Board of Directors (the “Bitfarms Board”). Riot currently owns approximately 14.9% of Bitfarms, making it Bitfarms’ largest shareholder.\n\n\nThe Special Meeting will give Bitfarms shareholders the opportunity to vote on the removal of Bitfarms Chairman and Interim CEO Nicolas Bonta and director Andrés Finkielsztain (or their replacements), and any individual who fills the current vacancy created by the resignation of co-founder Emiliano Grodzki, who was voted off the Bitfarms Board at the Company’s most recent Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders. Riot believes that Messrs. Bonta and Finkielsztain bear direct responsibility for the Bitfarms Board’s poor corporate governance practices and consistent inability to realize Bitfarms’ full potential. Riot will also seek to remove any additional director appointed by the Bitfarms Board after the date of this press release.\n\n\nTo replace these individuals, Riot has nominated three exceptional candidates: John Delaney, Amy Freedman and Ralph Goehring (the “Nominees”). Each of the Nominees is independent of Riot and Bitfarms and is ideally qualified to help restore shareholders’ confidence in the Bitfarms Board. Together, the Nominees will bring needed independence and corporate governance credentials to the Bitfarms Board, as well as relevant experience overseeing significant corporate transactions and serving in executive management and public company director roles.\n\n\nThe bottom line is this: 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 th...