CoreWeave is in talks to acquire Core Scientific, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
The talks come after Core Scientific, a bitcoin mining firm, previously rejected an acquisition offer from the cloud services provider last year.
Following the news, shares of Core Scientific climbed about 8%, boosting the company’s market valuation to nearly $4 billion.
Reuters notes that crypto miners, which require significant electricity to power their operations, are increasingly targeted by larger industry players and AI technology firms seeking to secure energy resources for their power-intensive businesses.
A deal could be finalized in the coming weeks if negotiations proceed smoothly, the Wall Street Journal reported, noting that specific terms under discussion remain undisclosed.
Core Scientific did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, while CoreWeave declined to comment.
Juby Babu from Reuters highlights that Core Scientific received an unsolicited non-binding proposal from CoreWeave in June last year to acquire all of the company’s outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis for $1.02 billion, or $5.75 per share in cash. At the time, Core Scientific had said that the deal significantly undervalued it and was not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.
The two companies went on to sign a series of 12-year agreements, including a deal under which Core Scientific would supply CoreWeave with approximately 200 megawatts of infrastructure to support its high-performance computing operations.
