Vancouver-based ASIC chip designer Squire Mining is reportedly set to purchase CoinGeek, a crypto news publication and mining pool operator, for $45 million. The move will reportedly make Squire Mining the “largest, publicly traded Bitcoin miner.”

According to Finance Magnates Squire Mining, whose market capitalization is of $35.4 million, has its shares traded on stock exchanges throughout the world, and has been partnered with CoinGeek since August.

The partnership initially saw CoinGeek become the sole distributor of its products. Now, the acquisition will see Squire Mining take over CoinGeek’s operations and employees. This means it’ll get 62,440 ASIC machines located in Canada (6,000 ASICs), Kazakhstan (20,500 ASICs), and the US (35,940 ASICs). These have a combined hashrate of around 960,000 TH/s.

The move will reportedly cost Squire Mining $45.3 million, and will also give it right of first refusal on other assets CoinGeek has for a year after the deal is closed. The company’s CEO, Taras Kulyk, was quoted as saying:

This transaction would provide Squire with a leading, recognized brand via the acquisition of the CoinGeek.com and CoinGeek name, but it would also make us the largest, publicly traded Bitcoin miner globally.

Kulyk added that it’s also expected to deliver “significant shareholder value” by enabling his firm to become “virtually integrated” with its new growing chip design and manufacturing business, set to become commercial next year.

As CryptoGlobe covered, Squire Mining signed a partnership with Samsung Electronics, the largest tech conglomerate in South Korea, to create a next-generation ASIC miner. While it may for now become the largest publicly traded crypto miner, reports have shown Bitmain is looking to launch one of the biggest IPOs in history.

Notably, CoinGeek itself was acquired in August of last year by Calvin Ayre, a Canadian billionaire who made his money through online gambling. Ayre was a supporter of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and in the recent hard fork went with the Bitcoin Cash Satoshi’s Vision (BSV) side.

Squire Mining’s acquisition of CoinGeek is reportedly dependent on various factors. If it goes go through Calvin Ayre, through the Antiguan Corporation Bigfoot Holdings Group, is set to control over 126 million of Squire’s shares, “representing approximately 53.3% of the issued and outstanding Squire common shares.”

Commenting on the move Ayre noted he believes the “next phase of growth for this industry is upon us and that means massive scaling of the Bitcoin blockchain.” Per his words, by selling CoinGeek’s mining business and website to Squire, he’s “doubling-down” on his “commitment to Bitcoin’s success.”