Bitcoin miner Rhodium to go public via merger deal

Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises is planning to list on the Nasdaq following a merger with SilverSun Technologies Inc., a business application, technology and consulting company.

The deal comes months after Barron's reported that Rhodium had been looking to go public since last year, but postponed its IPO due to market conditions. 

"We believe access to U.S. capital markets is paramount to sustainable, long-term success in our capital intensive industry," Rhodium CEO Chase Blackmon said in a statement. "We believe this strategic transaction will unlock long-term accretive value for Rhodium's shareholders."

SilverSun shareholders will get a cash dividend of at least $1.50 per share, $8.5 million in total, and a further stock dividend. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, at which point Rhodium will seek to list the shares. 

The deal will provide SilverSun stockholders "with the opportunity to realize a substantial upfront cash payment" and "participate in the potential upside of Rhodium at an exciting time for the cryptocurrency marketplace," SilverSun CEO Mark Meller said.

Meller, as well as the other members of the board of directors of SilverSun, will remain in place after the deal.

B. Riley Securities advised on the deal.

Rhodium recently raised $11.9 million of the $30 million that it was looking to get in the form of debt, options and securities, according to an SEC filing from earlier this month.

Besides mining bitcoin, the company also develops liquid cooling technologies, describing itself on its website as a "vertically integrated technology & infrastructure platform." 

Rhodium had approximately 125 megawatts of mining capacity at its initial Texas site, according to an SEC filing for the IPO filed in January. The company had intended to issue 7.69 million shares at between $12 and $14 each.