State-of-the-Art Facility Will Significantly
Expand Galaxy's Mining Capabilities
NEW
YORK, Dec. 28, 2022 /CNW/ - Galaxy Digital
Holdings Ltd. (TSX: GLXY) ("Galaxy" or "the Company"), a
financial services and investment management innovator in the
digital asset, cryptocurrency, and blockchain
technology sectors, has agreed to acquire the Helios
bitcoin mining facility and its related operations
from Argo Blockchain plc (LSE: ARB; NASDAQ: ARBK) ("Argo") for
approximately $65 million.
The transaction will accelerate the expansion of Galaxy's
bitcoin mining operations and services, provide access
to tax-efficient mining infrastructure and reduce reliance on
third-party hosting providers.
Helios is a large-scale bitcoin mining facility
located in Dickens County, Texas,
that has the ability to operate up to 180 megawatts (MW) of mining
capacity, utilizing immersion cooling technology. Upon receipt of
certain approvals, Helios is expected to provide Galaxy with as
much as 800 MW of capacity, enabling the Company to grow its
proprietary and hosted bitcoin mining infrastructure
beyond its previously stated goals. Helios, which sits on a
160-acre campus, commenced operations in May
2022 and is currently staffed by approximately 40 employees
who manage day-to-day operations.
"Galaxy is aspiring to be one of the most trusted nodes of the
decentralized future," said Chris
Ferraro, President and Chief Investment Officer at Galaxy.
"The acquisition of Helios represents a new stage over our two-year
journey in bitcoin mining that increases our operating
scale and breadth of solutions, creating sustainable value for the
biggest decentralized digital asset network and shareholders
alike."
Galaxy intends to utilize Helios as its flagship proprietary
mining facility and retain the entire operations team. Galaxy will
also begin offering hosting services for third-party
bitcoin miners at Helios, creating a new revenue
stream for the Company. Galaxy and Argo will work together to
ensure a smooth transition at Helios, minimizing disruptions to
operations. Galaxy has also pledged to support the various
community commitments Argo has established since it began building
Helios in July 2021.
In connection with this transaction, Galaxy has agreed to
provide Argo with a new senior-secured loan valued at
$35 million, secured by a collateral
package that includes Argo mining equipment. Argo will also enter
into a two-year hosting agreement with Galaxy, securing a place for
Argo's mining machines at the Helios facility.
Helios is the second planned bitcoin mining
facility that Galaxy will own and operate. As previously
announced, Galaxy broke ground on its first proprietary mining
site earlier this year, which is also located in Texas.
"Quality infrastructure and access to low-cost energy are the
cornerstones of a successful mining operation, making the
acquisition of Helios an incredible milestone for the growth of
Galaxy's mining business," said Amanda
Fabiano, Head of Mining at Galaxy. "We are thrilled to
welcome the people supporting Helios to the Galaxy team. We also
look forward to having Argo as our first hosting client."
Galaxy and Argo expect the transaction to close on December 28, 2022.
Galaxy Investment Banking served as exclusive financial advisor
to Galaxy on the acquisition of Helios. Kirkland & Ellis LLP
served as Galaxy's legal advisor in connection with the
transaction.
About Galaxy
Galaxy (TSX: GLXY) is a digital asset and
blockchain leader providing institutions, startups, and qualified
individuals access to the crypto economy. Our full
suite of financial services is custom-made for a digitally native
ecosystem, spanning multiple synergistic business lines: Trading,
Asset Management, Investment Banking, Mining, and Ventures.
Galaxy's CEO and Founder Michael
Novogratz leads a team of crypto enthusiasts
and institutional veterans working together on a mission to
engineer a new economic paradigm. The Company is headquartered in
New York City, with offices in
Chicago, New Jersey, Texas, London, Amsterdam, Hong
Kong, Tokyo, and the
Cayman Islands (reg. office).
Additional information about Galaxy's businesses and products is
available on www.galaxy.com.
Disclaimers
The TSX has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of
this press release.
CAUTION ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information in this communication may contain "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act")
and "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities laws
(collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Our forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding
our or our management team's expectations, hopes, beliefs,
intentions or strategies regarding the future. Statements that are
not historical facts, including statements about the acquisition of
the Helios Bitcoin Mining Facility (the
"transaction"), and the parties, perspectives and expectations, are
forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements that refer
to estimates, projections, forecasts or other characterizations of
future events or circumstances, including any underlying
assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words
"anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect,"
"forecast," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible,"
"potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar
expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the
absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not
forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release
may include, for example, statements about: our expectations
regarding the performance of our mining business; additional mining
capacity at the Helios facility; the creation of new revenue
sources and businesses with the transaction. The forward-looking
statements contained in this release are based on our current
expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their
potential effects on us taking into account information currently
available to us. There can be no assurance that future developments
affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These
forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties
(some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that
may cause actual results or performance to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: (1) the
outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted following
the transaction; (2) costs related to the transaction and energy
sources; (3) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (4) the
possibility that the mining business may be adversely affected by
other economic, business, and/or competitive factors or natural
disasters; (5) changes or events that impact the
cryptocurrency industry, including potential
regulation, that are out of our control; (6) the risk that our
business will not grow in line with our expectations; (7) the
possibility that our addressable market is smaller than we have
anticipated and/or that we may not gain share of it; (8) those
other risks contained in the Annual Information Form for the year
ended December 31, 2021 available on
the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and (9) other risks and
uncertainties to be indicated from time to time in filings made on
SEDAR. Factors that could cause actual results of the Company to
differ materially from those described in such forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, failure to receive
regulatory approvals or the imposition of new regulations; a
decline in the digital asset market or general economic conditions;
the failure or delay in the adoption of digital assets and the
blockchain ecosystem and corresponding impacts to our business.
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize,
they could cause our actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements. We are not undertaking any obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should
not take any statement regarding past trends or activities as a
representation that the trends or activities will continue in the
future. Accordingly, you should not put undue reliance on these
statements.
SOURCE Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd.