Core Scientific Shareholders Reject $9 Billion Acquisition Offer from CoreWeave
Core Scientific shareholders made a significant decision on Thursday when they voted against an all-stock acquisition offer from partner and competitor CoreWeave. The offer, valued at $9 billion at the time, was ultimately rejected following a recommendation from their largest shareholder, Sina Toussi of Two Seas Capital, a firm specializing in post-bankruptcy companies.
Core Scientific recently emerged from bankruptcy in January 2024, marking a pivotal moment for the company. Originally established as a crypto miner, Core Scientific shares a similar history with CoreWeave, which also began as a miner but has since transitioned to serving AI workloads. CoreWeave, in partnership with Nvidia, has seen substantial growth in its stock value, soaring from a $14 billion market cap to $66 billion today, positioning itself as a key player in the AI industry.
Prior to the shareholder vote, CoreWeave had signed a $10 billion, 12-year contract with Core Scientific for AI services, solidifying their partnership. However, an acquisition offer was made in July, which was ultimately rejected by investors who believe that Core Scientific has the potential to achieve similar success independently.
Investor Toussi expressed his opposition to the acquisition, citing the rapid growth in AI infrastructure investment and the increasing equity valuations of Core Scientific’s peers. This sentiment led to the rejection of the offer, causing CoreWeave to walk away. Following the news, Core Scientific’s stock rose, and the company is now trading at a $6.6 billion market cap.
Rejecting acquisition bids in pursuit of larger opportunities signifies a potential AI bubble in the industry. Meanwhile, CoreWeave continues its expansion efforts with the recent acquisition of Marimo, an open-source Jupyter Notebook competitor. This strategic move aims to enhance CoreWeave’s capabilities in AI app development and further solidify its position in the market.
Python notebooks play a crucial role in interactive data analysis and AI app development, aligning with CoreWeave’s goal of advancing from hosting services to AI application building. The acquisition of Marimo is expected to contribute significantly to CoreWeave’s growth trajectory in the evolving AI landscape.
