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."
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.
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