Business Briefs: Hut 8 finalizes offer to purchase TeraGo Inc.

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on January 21, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

Hut 8 is striking into more traditional sectors of data processing with a $30-million acquisition of a Canadian-based business services provider.

The cryptocurrency miner with major operations in Medicine Hat announced Thursday that it had finalized an all-cash offer for the purchase of TeraGo Inc.

That firm has facilities in Toronto, Vancouver and Kelowna, a roster of 400 customers and, according to Hut 8 officials, will provide a platform to deal with non-crypto firms that employ blockchain in operations.

“(The deal) diversifies Hut 8’s operations with a discrete, steady cash flow, that is uncorrelated to digital asset mining,” said CEO Jaime Leverton in a release. “It puts us at the forefront of the accelerated digitization of industry, establishing us as the bridge between traditional and nascent iterations of high-performance computing.”

Leverton reiterated the company is “bullish” on Bitcoin but said the purchase diversifies the company that was founded in 2018 and recently announced a major cypto-focused expansion near a moth-balled natural gas plant in North Bay, Ont.

The TeraGo customer base comprises entries in the gaming, graphics and advanced internet sectors.

IPC closes bond issue

Global oil producer International Petroleum Corporation has closed a US$300 million bond issue that it says will be used to cancel debt and for general corporate purposes.

CEO Mike Nicholson said that changes to the balance sheet could put them in a stronger position in a sector that is leaning towards conglomeration.

“Whilst we do not have an imminent acquisition, we believe that being able to demonstrate to sellers that IPC has the financial strength on its balance sheet, will enable IPC to access a greater universe of opportunities whilst differentiating us from our peers in terms of certainty of being able to close transactions,” he said in a release.

The bonds have a 7.25 rate for five-year terms and will be listed on the Olso stock exchange.

The company, which in late 2017 acquired the Suffield drilling block in southeast Alberta, recently announced the results of a stock buy-back program following a much stronger 2021 calendar year.

Its stock has risen from US$5.21 in August to sit at US$8.56 at close on Wednesday.