Shareholders of Core Scientific have rejected a proposed all-stock acquisition from AI data center operator CoreWeave, halting what had been positioned as a $9 billion takeover. The vote, held on Thursday, followed strong opposition from Core Scientific’s largest shareholder, Sina Toussi of Two Seas Capital — a firm known for investing in companies emerging from bankruptcy. Core Scientific officially exited bankruptcy proceedings earlier this year, in January 2024.

Both Core Scientific and CoreWeave share roots in the cryptocurrency mining sector. However, while Core Scientific continues to operate in that space, CoreWeave has pivoted aggressively toward artificial intelligence infrastructure, aided by major backing from Nvidia. This shift has fueled CoreWeave’s immense market growth, with its valuation surging from $14 billion at IPO to approximately $66 billion today.

Before the failed acquisition, CoreWeave had already secured a long-term agreement valued at $10 billion to utilize Core Scientific’s data center facilities for AI-related operations. The proposed buyout, announced in July, offered a premium to Core Scientific’s share price at the time.

However, Toussi argued that Core Scientific has the capacity to achieve substantial independent growth in the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure market. In his letter to shareholders, he criticized the offer price, stating, “Since the transaction was announced in July, investment in AI infrastructure has accelerated, driving equity valuations of Core Scientific’s peers to ever-greater heights. Why would anyone vote for a transaction worth a mere $16.40 per share?”

Following the shareholder rejection, CoreWeave withdrew its acquisition proposal. Core Scientific’s stock climbed on the announcement, reflecting renewed investor confidence, and the company now sits at a market capitalization of roughly $6.6 billion.

The move underscores a broader trend in the financial markets, where investors are increasingly optimistic about AI-linked firms and, in some cases, unwilling to settle for early buyout offers — a sign analysts suggest may indicate growing speculative exuberance in the sector.

Despite the setback, CoreWeave remains active in expanding its capabilities. On the same day the deal fell apart, the company announced the acquisition of Marimo — an emerging open-source alternative to Jupyter Notebook. Although the purchase price was not disclosed, PitchBook estimates Marimo has raised around $5 million to date.

Marimo’s technology allows developers to combine code, multimedia content, and narrative explanations in a single interactive file, making it a valuable tool for data analysis and AI application development. The acquisition signals CoreWeave’s intention to move beyond providing computing infrastructure and deeper into software tools that support AI development workflows.

Source: Techcrunch