64-Hectare Property in Ballangen,
Norway with Excellent Access to
Renewable Hydroelectricity
BALLANGEN, Norway and
VANCOUVER, March 26, 2018 /CNW/ - HIVE Blockchain
Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V:HIVE) (OTC:HVBTF) (the "Company" or
"HIVE") and Kolos Norway AS ("Kolos") are pleased to announce that
they have entered into a series of agreements (the "Agreements")
pursuant to which HIVE has agreed to acquire all of the issued and
outstanding shares of Kolos through the acquisition of another
Norwegian entity for total consideration of approximately
US$9.9 million, 4,750,000 common
shares and 1,250,000 warrants (the "Norway Acquisition").
"This is another major milestone in our continuing global
expansion as a leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure
company," said Harry Pokrandt, CEO
and Director of HIVE. "Kolos will be a flagship data centre project
for HIVE for years to come and has the potential to expand to more
than 1.0 GW, or 1,000 MW, of green hydroelectricity consumption
dedicated to blockchain infrastructure. For context, our advanced
mining operations in Iceland and
Sweden will collectively represent
44.2 MW of consumption – also from green sources. This acquisition
provides HIVE with significant flexibility for long-term growth.
Our vision is to scale the project in phases to be among the
largest and most energy-efficient data centres in the world. We
continue to explore non-dilutive financing alternatives to commence
the build-out as soon as possible."
![The Kolos property is located in a natural corridor surrounded by mountainous terrain and water, providing a physical security barrier for the proposed data centre and natural cooling of computing equipment. (CNW Group/HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.) The Kolos property is located in a natural corridor surrounded by mountainous terrain and water, providing a physical security barrier for the proposed data centre and natural cooling of computing equipment. (CNW Group/HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/658591/HIVE_Blockchain_Technologies_Ltd___R_E_P_E_A_T____HIVE_Blockchai.jpg)
HIVE is committed to being a leader in building a clean energy
future for the blockchain industry. The Kolos project, which will
be run on 100% green, renewable power, is a major project
demonstrating this commitment. Kolos' primary asset is a 64-hectare
property located in Ballangen, Norway, approximately 225 kilometres north of
the Arctic Circle, and ideally situated for the construction of a
large-scale, climate-cooled data centre. The property is in close
proximity to infrastructure with excess capacity to provide HIVE
with a supply of more than 1.0 gigawatt ("GW"), or 1,000 megawatts
("MW"), of hydroelectricity at highly competitive rates, and access
to reliable, high speed internet. HIVE and its strategic partner,
Genesis Mining Ltd. ("Genesis"), are developing a plan to construct
an initial facility on the property accessing 30 MW of this
capacity, which is available to HIVE immediately. It is expected
that 120 MW of the total capacity will be available to HIVE within
a year. Kolos has completed preliminary permitting with the local
municipality, which strongly supports the project.
Under the Agreements, HIVE will pay aggregate cash consideration
in the amount of NOK 55,600,000
(US$7,225,000) using cash on hand,
assume NOK 20,915,000 (US$2,719,000) of liabilities, and issue
4,750,000 common shares of the Company and 1,250,000 warrants to
purchase common shares of the Company (the "Warrants"). The
Warrants and 2,650,000 common shares of the Company to be issued
are subject to vesting provisions. The Warrants will be exercisable
for a period of 5 years from the date of issuance and have an
exercise price to be set at the closing of the Norway
Acquisition.
Closing of the Norway Acquisition is subject to a number of
customary closing conditions, including the approval of the TSX
Venture Exchange, and must close within 60 days. Securities of the
Company issued pursuant to the Norway Acquisition are subject to a
hold period of four months plus one day from the date of
issuance.
Appointment of Additional Director
HIVE is pleased to announce the appointment of Marcus New as an additional member of the Board
of Directors of the Company. Mr. New is an entrepreneur who has
been involved in building a number of businesses disrupting the
capital markets over the past 20 years. He is the founder and
chairman (and previously the CEO) of Stockhouse Publishing,
Canada's leading financial
community and a global hub for affluent investors, with over 1
million unique monthly visitors. Prior to launching Stockhouse,
Marcus founded and built Stockgroup Media, an online information
company whose client base consisted of 13 of the top 25 Canadian
brokerage firms, 14 of the top 15 global institutional sales desks,
and over 200 hedge funds. In 2014, Mr. New became Chairman of
Stockhouse to become Chief Entrepreneur of Investx Capital Ltd, the
first cross border global online private equity and venture capital
platform. Mr. New has a bachelor's degree in Business from
Trinity Western University and has
graduated from the Birthing of Giants program at MIT.
In connection with Mr. New's appointment, he has been granted an
aggregate of 250,000 incentive stock options of the Company
exercisable at a price of $2.00 per
share for a period of 10 years, subject to the approval of the TSX
Venture Exchange.
Following this addition, the Board of Directors is comprised of
Frank Holmes (Independent
Non-Executive Chairman), Harry
Pokrandt, Olivier Roussy
Newton, Bjoern Arzt,
Tobias Ebel, and Marcus New.
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, and provides 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.
"Harry Pokrandt"
President, CEO and Director
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 Company's proposed acquisition of
Kolos, construction and completion of a major data centre; quantum
and type of electricity available on the project; duration and use
of the data centre; completion of the Company's expansion into
Sweden; long term growth of the
Company; a potential non-dilutive financing; exclusive use of
renewable energy at the Company's data center; expected quantum and
timing of MW to be made available to the Company; data centre
build-out and construction (and timing thereon) and estimation of
hydro electrical supply and electrical capacity; financing
alternatives to advance the aforementioned build-out; the Company's
ongoing expansion into Sweden and
estimated timing and electrical capacity thereon; potential
expansion of electrical capacity in Norway; closing of the Kolos transaction; 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 required
approval to close the acquisition of Kolos; the Company may not
receive the required financing to complete the construction of the
data centre in Norway on terms
favourable to the Company, or at all; construction and operation of
the data centre in Norway may not
occur as currently planned, or at all; the data centre in
Norway may not receive the hydro
electrical supply contemplated herein, or at all; the data centre
in Norway, once constructed, may
not operate on a scale (electrical consumption and output of
digital currency) currently anticipated, and may not operate on
commercially beneficial terms at all to the Company; the Company
may not complete its expansion into Sweden as currently anticipated, or at all;
the ongoing partnership with Genesis; 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
September 13, 2017 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 close the acquisition of Kolos and complete the
construction of digital currency operations in Norway; the Company will be able to complete
its expansion into Sweden as
currently anticipated; the Company will be able to profitably
liquidate its digital currency inventory as required; the Company's
ongoing partnership with Genesis; 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.
Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on
which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable
securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to
update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new
information, future events or results or otherwise.
SOURCE HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.