Bitcoin miner Cipher to go public via $2 billion SPAC merger

FILE PHOTO: A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin is seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken January 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

(Reuters) – Cipher Mining Inc said on Friday it will go public through a merger with blank-check firm Good Works Acquisition Corp in a deal that values the combined company at $2 billion.

The deal will provide the merged entity with gross cash proceeds of $595 million, which includes $425 million from investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company and Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global.

The combined company, to be named Cipher Mining Inc, is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CIFR”.

Cipher Mining is a newly-formed cryptocurrency mining company and is a unit of Bitfury Top HoldCo, a provider of bitcoin mining tools and blockchain software.

Good Work, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, raised $150 million through an initial public offering last year.

SPACs are shell companies which raise funds to acquire a private company with the purpose of taking it public, allowing such targets to sidestep a traditional IPO to enter public markets.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are serving as financial advisors to Good Works and Cipher Mining, respectively, on the deal.

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