Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) said on Thursday it had acquired an additional 1,432,063 shares of Bitfarms (BITF) at approximately $2.70 per share, totaling about $3.87 million.
This purchase brings Riot's ownership to 57.62 million shares of Bitfarms, equating to roughly 14% of the company.
Bitfarms shares surged 16% in Toronto on Friday.
The move marks the latest step in Riot's ongoing attempt at a hostile takeover of Bitfarms.
Last month, the Bitcoin miner made an offer to acquire Bitfarms for around $950 million. However, Bitfarms has taken defensive measures against the takeover.
Riot CEO Jason Les criticized the move.
"Instead of engaging with us privately and in good faith, Bitfarms has responded by implementing an off-market Poison Pill with a trigger well below the customary 20% threshold," Les said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Bitfarms adopted a "poison pill" strategy designed to prevent a takeover, a strategy aimed at making the company less appealing.
According to Reuters, under Bitfarms' plan, if an entity acquires more than 15% of Bitfarms' stake between June 20 and September 10, the company will issue new shares, thereby diluting the entity's ownership. After September 10, this threshold will be adjusted to 20% if certain conditions for a takeover attempt are met.
Riot Platforms plans to call for a special meeting of Bitfarms shareholders, where they intend to propose several independent directors to join Bitfarms' board.
Bitfarms announced on Friday its expansion into the United States with the establishment of a new site in Sharon, Pennsylvania. The firm plans to develop up to 120 megawatts (MW) of power capacity in this new location, it said in a statement.