(Bloomberg) -- Prime Blockchain Inc., a Bitcoin mining and infrastructure firm, is in talks to merge with special purpose acquisition company 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp. II, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The SPAC is seeking to raise at least $150 million through a so-called private investment in public equity, or PIPE, to support the transaction, which is set to take Prime Blockchain public and value the combined entity at roughly $1.5 billion, said some of the people. Terms aren’t finalized and could still change, and it’s possible that talks fall apart.
A representative for Prime Blockchain, which does business as PrimeBlock, declined to comment, as did a representative for 10X.
Shares in 10X rose about 9.60% to $10.73 in pre-market trading in New York.
With mining operations in North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Canada, PrimeBlock has said it aims to establish itself as “one of the leading carbon-neutral mining and infrastructure companies in North America.”
PrimeBlock, on pace to generate annualized revenue of roughly $100 million, currently mines about 5 Bitcoin per day, operates at a hash rate, or mining power, of roughly 1 exahash (1 quintillion hashes) per second and is growing capacity at 25 megawatts per month, some of the people said.
PrimeBlock’s competitors include Riot Blockchain Inc., Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Core Scientific Holding Co., which previously agreed to merge with another SPAC.
Read more: Core Scientific to Go Public Via $4.3 Billion SPAC Merger: M&A Snapshot
Earlier this month, PrimeBlock named former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. crypto investment banker Gaurav Budhrani as chief executive officer and appointed Alan Konevsky, the former interim CEO of tZERO Group, as chief legal officer.
“It is an exciting time for the Bitcoin mining industry, as we’ve seen it increase over four times in size in 2021 to well over $20 billion annually,” Budhrani said in a statement announcing his appointment.
The 10X SPAC, led by CEO Hans Thomas, raised $200 million in an August initial public offering. It said it would focus on finding high-growth technology or tech-enabled businesses in sectors including financial services and e-commerce.
Another Bitcoin miner, Cipher Mining Inc. made its public debut through a SPAC merger earlier this year, while others including Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. and Iris Energy Ltd. have listed via traditional IPOs.
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