ZUG, Switzerland and
VANCOUVER, May 13, 2019 /CNW/ - HIVE Blockchain
Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V:HIVE) (OTCQX:HVBTF) (the "Company" or
"HIVE") is pleased to announce that it has entered a non-binding
letter of intent and heads of terms and a share swap agreement with
Argo Blockchain PLC (LSE:ARB) ("Argo") to explore a proposed
strategic partnership to create the world's largest
business-to-business mining service provider aimed at large-scale
enterprise and institutional customers. The proposed strategic
partnership will enable all miners to benefit from the combination
of the two groups' existing mining capacity, including part of
HIVE's equivalent mining capacity of 45 megawatts ("MW") and Argo's
10.5MW capacity and presents a significant opportunity to service
strategic institutional clients that require Mining-as-a-Service
(MaaS) infrastructure to mine virgin coins from safe jurisdictions
like North America and
Europe.
"We are excited about this strategic partnership and our
analysis indicates that Argo is significantly undervalued," said
Frank Holmes, Interim Executive
Chairman and Interim CEO. "They have a healthy cash position with
more than £16 million, as of December 31,
2018, and since then Argo has deployed some of the most
efficient ASIC chips to expand Bitcoin operations while
cryptocurrencies continue to rebound from lows seen at the
beginning of 2019. In our view, the crypto market is ready for a
mining solution focused on enterprise customers that require
accountability and transparency. Our combination of scale, software
and teams will be transformational in this growing market."
"This deal makes strategic sense and demonstrates the intrinsic
value of our business, our vision and existing investment," added
Jonathan Bixby, Executive Chairman
of Argo. "The alliance is transformational for Argo and will
deliver long-term and sustainable fiat-based revenue streams."
This proposed strategic partnership will leverage the strengths
of Argo's Canadian infrastructure including software, capacity,
team, competitive electricity prices in Quebec and hardware costs and HIVE's
industrial scale production capacity in Iceland and Sweden, its assets located in Norway, and HIVE's deep experience and
expertise in the cryptocurrency mining and blockchain
ecosystem.
As part of the agreement, HIVE and Argo are considering a share
swap arrangement, by which Argo will receive approximately 5% of
HIVE's outstanding share capital in exchange for approximately 15%
of Argo's outstanding share capital. The transaction does not
involve any cash payments by either side and is expected to close
on May 30, 2019 subject to among
other customary conditions, negotiation and execution of binding
agreements, both parties completing satisfactory due diligence,
obtaining their respective board of directors' approvals, and to
completing an independent external valuation of HIVE.
About Argo Blockchain PLC
Argo Blockchain plc is a global data centre management business
that provides a flexible platform for the mining of leading
cryptocurrencies. Argo is headquartered in London, UK and operates state-of-the art data
centres in Quebec, Canada. The
Company's shares are listed on the main market of London Stock
Exchange under the ticker: ARB
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. is a growth oriented,
TSX.V-listed company building a bridge from the blockchain sector
to traditional capital markets. HIVE is strategically partnered
with Genesis Mining Ltd. to build the next generation of blockchain
infrastructure. HIVE owns state-of-the-art GPU-based digital
currency mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden, which produce newly minted digital
currencies like Ethereum continuously as well as cloud-based
ASIC-based capacity which produces newly minted digital currencies
like Bitcoin. Our deployments provide shareholders with exposure to
the operating margins of digital currency mining as well as a
growing portfolio of crypto-coins.
For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list,
please visit www.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow @HIVEblockchain on
Twitter and subscribe to HIVE's YouTube channel.
On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
"Frank Holmes"
Interim Executive Chairman
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news
release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning
of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on
expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news
release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release
includes information about the proposed transaction with Argo and,
including potential completion date and quantum of share swap
arrangement; the proposed strategic partnership with Argo and the
potential outcomes of that partnership; the long term growth of the
Company; the business goals and objectives of the Company, and
other forward-looking information includes but is not limited to
information concerning the intentions, plans and future actions of
the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms
thereon.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in such forward-looking information include,
but are not limited to, the Company may not receive approval to
complete the transaction with Argo as contemplated or at all; the
Company's ability to source and service strategic institutional
clients; the digital currency market; the Company's ability to
successfully mine digital currency; the Company may not be able to
profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at
all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant
negative impact on the Company's operations; the volatility of
digital currency prices; and other related risks as more fully set
out in the Filing Statement of the Company dated and other
documents disclosed under the Company's filings at
www.sedar.com.
The forward-looking information in this news release reflects
the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company
based on information currently available to the Company. In
connection with the forward-looking information contained in this
news release, the Company has made assumptions about the Company's
ability to complete the transaction with Argo; the ongoing
strategic partnership with Argo; the Company's ability to source
and service strategic institutional clients; the Company's ability
to profitably liquidate its digital currency inventory as required;
historical prices of digital currencies and the ability of the
Company to mine digital currencies will be consistent with
historical prices; and there will be no regulation or law that will
prevent the Company from operating its business. The Company has
also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the
Company's normal course of business. Although the Company believes
that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information
are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of
future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put
on such information due to the inherent uncertainty
therein.
SOURCE HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.