| Item 1.01. | Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement. |
On August 3, 2023, Cipher Mining Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Controlled Equity OfferingSM Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Canaccord Genuity LLC, Needham & Company, LLC and Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC (each, an “Agent” and, together, the “Agents”), pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time through or to the Agents, shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”), for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $250.0 million (the “Shares”). The offering and sale of up to $250.0 million of the Shares has been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), pursuant to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-267537) (the “Registration Statement”), which was originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on September 21, 2022, and declared effective by the SEC on October 6, 2022, the base prospectus contained within the Registration Statement, and a prospectus supplement that was filed with the SEC on August 4, 2023 (the “Prospectus Supplement”). The aggregate offering amount under the Prospectus Supplement is approximately the same as the amount that was remaining under the Prior Sales Agreement (as defined in Item 8.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K).
Pursuant to the Sales Agreement, the Agent selected by the Company (such Agent, the “Designated Agent”) may sell the Shares in sales deemed to be “at the market offerings” as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Company has no obligation to sell any of the Shares under the Sales Agreement and may at any time suspend or terminate the offering of the Shares pursuant to the Sales Agreement upon notice and subject to other conditions. The Agents will act as sales agents and will use commercially reasonable efforts to sell on the Company’s behalf all of the Shares requested to be sold by the Company, on mutually agreed terms between the Agents and the Company.
The Sales Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and agreements by the Company, and indemnification obligations of the Company and the Agents and other obligations of the parties. Under the terms of the Sales Agreement, the Company has agreed to pay the Designated Agent a commission up to 3.0% of the aggregate gross proceeds from any Shares sold through such Designated Agent pursuant to the Sales Agreement. In addition, the Company has agreed to reimburse certain expenses incurred by the Agents in connection with the Sales Agreement.
The foregoing description of the Sales Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of such agreement, a copy of which is filed herewith as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
The legal opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP relating to the shares of common stock being offered is filed as Exhibit 5.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
The Shares will be sold pursuant to the Registration Statement, and offerings of the Shares will be made only by means of the Prospectus Supplement. This Current Report on Form 8-K shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.
Effective August 1, 2023, the Company terminated its at the market offering agreement with H.C. Wainwright & Co., dated as of September 21, 2022 (the “Prior Sales Agreement”) related to the offer and sale of shares of the Company’s common stock in at-the-market offerings. At the time of such termination, the Company had received proceeds of approximately $2.7 million, net of issuance costs, from the sale of 978,207 shares of common stock, with an average fair value of $2.88 per share.
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