The
publicly-listed cryptocurrency mining company Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ: ARBK), has entered into an agreement to sell its data center located in
Mirabel, Quebec for $6.1 million.
It also
disclosed its monthly mining output numbers, showing a decreased daily Bitcoin (BTC)
production that fell 21% on a monthly bassi.
The sale of
the Mirabel facility, which has 5 megawatts of electrical capacity, represents
a price of $1.2 million per megawatt. Argo expects the net proceeds from the
transaction to first repay the outstanding mortgage on the Mirabel site, with
the remaining funds used to reduce debt owed to Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd.
According
to pro forma figures provided by Argo, the divestiture is expected to decrease
the company’s overall debt burden by $5.4 million to $55.2 million. This
includes lowering the Galaxy debt balance to $14 million – a 60% reduction from
the original $35 million loan.
Argo CEO
Thomas Chippas hailed the deal as demonstrating the firm’s “continued
commitment to strengthening the balance sheet” through debt reduction and
lowering expenses outside of cryptocurrency mining.
🚨New RNS🚨
Argo announces the upcoming sale of its data center in Mirabel, QC. Key highlights:
🔸$6.1m purchase price ($1.2m / MW)
🔸Streamlines Quebec operations & lowers operating expenses
🔸Net proceeds used for debt reductionFull RNS: https://t.co/sPpRBKp7yx#ARB $ARBK
— Argo (@ArgoBlockchain) March 5, 2024
Crucially,
Argo states it will maintain ownership of all mining machines currently
installed at the Mirabel location. The company plans to relocate the equipment
to its facility in Baie Comeau and anticipates selling certain older-generation
miners representing around 140 petahashes per second (PH/s) of hashing power.
After these moves, Argo’s total hashrate capacity is projected to be 2.7
exahashes per second (EH/s).
“We are
able to exit the Mirabel Facility with a high multiple on its power capacity,
and we also realize a premium on this real estate asset while maintaining a
strong hashrate capacity of 2.7 EH/s,” Chippas added.
The
divestiture provides operational benefits by consolidating all of Argo’s
self-mining activities at its Baie Comeau site. It is also expected to reduce
the company’s annual non-mining operating expenses by $700,000.
The
transaction is anticipated to close by the end of March 2024, subject to
customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
February Production Down
on Maintenance Outage
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