Correspondence 0001104659-23-070491 from Hut 8 Corp. (HUT)
Hut 8 Corp.
Date: June 12, 2023 · CIK: 0001964789 · Accession: 0001104659-23-070491
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-269738
Referenced dates: May 19, 2023
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Skadden,
Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom llp
One
Manhattan West
New
York, NY 10001
________
TEL: (212) 735-3000
FAX: (212) 735-2000
www.skadden.com
FIRM/AFFILIATE OFFICES
-----------
BOSTON
CHICAGO
HOUSTON
LOS ANGELES
PALO ALTO
WASHINGTON, D.C.
WILMINGTON
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BEIJING
BRUSSELS
FRANKFURT
HONG KONG
LONDON
MUNICH
PARIS
SÃO PAULO
SEOUL
SHANGHAI
SINGAPORE
TOKYO
TORONTO
June 12,
2023
VIA EDGAR
Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Office of Crypto Assets
100
F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20549-3561
Attn:
Eric Envall
David Lin
Kate Tillan
Mark Brunhofer
Re:
Hut 8 Corp.
Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4
Filed April 18, 2023
File No. 333-269738
On behalf of Hut 8 Corp.
(the “Company”), we hereby provide responses to comments received from the staff (the “Staff”)
of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) by letter dated May 19, 2023 (the “Comment
Letter”) with respect to the above-referenced Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4 filed with the
Commission on April 18, 2023 (the “Registration Statement”).
Concurrently with the submission
of this letter, the Company is filing, through the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (“EDGAR”)
system, an amendment to the Registration Statement (the “Amendment”) in response to the Staff’s comments and
to reflect certain other changes.
Securities and Exchange Commission
June 12,
2023
Page 2
The headings and paragraph
numbers in this letter correspond to those contained in the Comment Letter. To facilitate the Staff’s review, we have reproduced
the text of the Staff’s comments in bold and italics below, followed by responses from the Company, and where applicable, Hut 8
Mining Corp. (“Hut 8”) and U.S. Data Mining Group, Inc. (“USBTC”). Capitalized terms used
but not defined herein have the meanings given to them in the Amendment. All references to page numbers and captions (other than
those in the Staff’s comments and unless otherwise stated) correspond to the page numbers and captions in the Amendment.
Amendment No. 1 to Form S-4 filed April 18, 2023
Questions and Answers about the Business
Combination
What are the U.S. federal income tax consequences
of the Merger..., page 5
1. We
note your response to comment 2, but we are unable to agree that a tax opinion is not required
by Item 601(b)(8) of Regulation S-K. We view the tax consequences of the transaction
to be material to shareholders, and the parties have provided representations that each party
intends for the transaction to be tax-free under Section 351(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code. Refer to Section 3.9 of the Merger Agreement where the parties agree “to
treat the Hut Share Exchange and the Merger consistently with the Intended Tax Treatment
and to not take any position on any Tax return or otherwise take any Tax reporting position
inconsistent with such treatment” and “to act in good faith, consistent with
the intent of the Parties and the Intended Tax Treatment of the Hut Share Exchange and the
Merger as set forth herein and to use commercially reasonable efforts to not take any action,
or knowingly fail to take any action, except as expressly provided to the contrary in this
Agreement or the Plan of Arrangement, if such action or failure to act would reasonably be
expected to prevent the Hut Share Exchange or the Merger from qualifying for the Intended
Tax Treatment.” Accordingly, please file a tax opinion as an exhibit to the registration
statement. To the extent there is any uncertainty, counsel may issue a “should”
opinion; however, we expect counsel to explain why it cannot give a “will” opinion
and to describe the degree of uncertainty in the opinion.
The Company acknowledges the Staff’s comment and respectfully submits that, notwithstanding contractual obligations of the parties
to attempt to achieve a tax-free exchange, where the discussion of the tax consequences of the Merger does not represent that a transaction
is tax-free, no opinion is required, particularly where the discussion provides full disclosure of the anticipated consequences of the
transaction being taxable. As discussed with the Staff via teleconference on June 5th, 2023, there is significant uncertainty as
to whether the transaction is eligible to be tax-free under Section 351(a) of the Code. Specifically, there is uncertainty as to whether
Bitcoin is a security, or is treated as a security, for purposes of Section 351(e)(1) of the Code, which treatment could cause the transaction
to be taxable. The Company has revised the disclosure on pages 5, 15, 31 and 135 to 137 to describe to shareholders the basis and degree
of the uncertainty as to the tax treatment of the Merger.
Securities and Exchange Commission
June 12,
2023
Page 3
Risk Factors
Hut 8 may face several risks due to disruptions in the digital
asset markets..., page 38
2. We
note your response to comment 10 and your new risk factor captioned “Hut 8 may face
several risks due to disruptions in the digital asset markets...” on page 38.
Please briefly explain the “quasi governmental regulation of digital assets and their
use” that you reference in the second bullet and clarify how any related requirements
could present material risks to Hut 8.
The Company respectfully
acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on page 39.
USBTC is subject to a highly-evolving regulatory landscape...,
page 54
3. We
note your added disclosure that “in the United States, digital assets are subject to
extensive, and in some cases overlapping, ambiguous and evolving regulatory requirements
and considerations.” Please revise this risk factor to provide more details regarding
your references to “overlapping” and “ambiguous” regulations, and
to clarify that the Commission and staff have issued reports, orders, and statements that
provide guidance on when a crypto asset may be a security for purposes of the U.S. federal
securities laws.
The Company respectfully acknowledges
the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on pages 55 and 56.
Bitcoin’s and other digital assets’ status as a
“security”..., page 56
4. You
state here that “[w]ith respect to all other digital assets, there is currently no
certainty under the applicable legal test that such assets are not securities.” Please
revise to clarify that “all other digital assets” does not include the significant
number of specific digital assets that have been identified as securities by the SEC and
its staff. In addition, the disclosure in this risk factor would also apply to Hut 8. Please
revise your risk factors disclosure in this document and confirm that Hut 8 will revise its
disclosure in future periodic reports accordingly.
The Company respectfully acknowledges
the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on page 58 with respect to USBTC and confirms that Hut 8 will revise its future
periodic reports accordingly.
The Business Combination, page 79
5. Following
a review of your response to comment 14, we reissue it. As the projections appear to
have been used by each of Stifel GMP and Kroll in preparation of the discounted cash flow
analyses, please revise to disclose such projections.
The Company respectfully
acknowledges the Staff’s comment and has revised the disclosure on pages 98 to 105.
Securities and Exchange Commission
June 12,
2023
Page 4
Accounting Treatment of the Business Combination, page 99
6. We
acknowledge your response to comment 16. Given that you indicate that “approximately
50%” of the common stock of the combined company will be held by the owners of each
pre-combination company on a “fully-diluted in-the-money basis,” please provide
us share information expected to be outstanding upon completion of the transaction by the
prior owners of Hut 8 and USBTC broken down as follows:
· Shares
actually outstanding;
· ·Share
equivalents that are in-the-money; and
· ·Share
equivalents that are out-of-the-money.
In your response, tell us how
you determined whether shares are in- or out-of-the-money and explain whether any share equivalents have voting rights at the date of
your anticipated transaction and, if so, tell us how many. Finally, given the judgment involved and your disclosure that the determination
of the accounting acquirer could change at closing of your proposed transaction and that such a change could significantly impact your
pro forma financial information presented in your filing, tell us your consideration for disclosing quantified summary information if
Hut 8 were deemed to be the accounting acquirer.
The Company acknowledges
the Staff’s comments and respectfully makes the following submissions.
For situations where a business combination
effected primarily by exchanging equity interests, ASC 805-10-55-12 through 55-14 requires that one should look to, among other
factors, the relative voting rights of both parties. When assessing the relative voting rights, the accounting acquirer is typically
the entity whose owners as a group retain or receive the largest portion of the voting rights in the combined entity. Pursuant to
ASC 805-10-55-12(a), options, warrants and other convertible instruments assumed or exchange in a business combination are
considered in the determination of the accounting acquirer if the holders of these instruments are viewed to be essentially the same
as common shareholders. It is generally considered across different accounting literatures that options warrants and
convertible instruments that are in the money and are vested, exercisable or convertible may be included in the determination of the
relative voting rights in the combined entity. Conversely, options, warrants and convertible instruments that are not vested,
exercisable or convertible until after the acquisition date generally should not be included in the assessment or relative voting
rights.
Securities and Exchange Commission
June 12,
2023
Page 5
As further described below
in Subsection A, the Company respectfully advises the Staff that USBTC’s securityholders would have a slight advantage as compared
to Hut 8 securityholders in terms of relative voting rights at the various assumed closing dates of the Business Combination, which, under
ASC 805-10-55-12(a) supports the Company’s conclusion that USBTC would be the accounting acquiror.
Furthermore ASC
805-10-55-12 also provides other factors to consider, especially when the relative voting rights split is not fully determinative,
including the existence of a large minority voting interest, composition of governing body, composition of senior management, terms
of exchange of equity interest, relative size of the combining entities, etc. Notwithstanding that the initial test of relative
voting right supports the conclusion of USBTC as the accounting acquiror, given that USBTC’s voting rights advantage was not
significant, the Company felt it prudent to consider the additional factors discussed above and summarized further below in
Subsections B through H. As further described below, the relative size of the combining entities also supported the Company’s
conclusion that USBTC would be the accounting acquirer at the closing of the Business Combination. As a result, the Company
respectfully advises the Staff that it believes its use of USBTC as the accounting acquiror in the Registration Statement is
correct.
A. The
relative voting rights in the combined entity.
Set out below is a table
showing the outstanding securities of Hut 8 as of May 21, 2023:
Type
of Security
Number
of Securities
Notes
Common shares
221,278,374
Hut 8’s common shares
have voting rights
Restricted Stock Units
7,832,659
Unvested, no exercise price
and no voting rights
Deferred Stock Units
326,596
Fully vested, no exercise
price and no voting rights
Vested Stock Options
115,500
Fully vested, C$5.00
exercise price and no voting rights
Warrants
11,304,441
C$6.25 exercise price,
expiring June 15, 2023 and no voting rights
Warrants
9,477
C$13.36 exercise price,
expiring September 17, 2026 and no voting rights
Securities and Exchange Commission
June 12,
2023
Page 6
Set out below is a table showing the
outstanding securities of USBTC as of May 21, 2023:
Type of Security
Number of Securities
Notes
Common stock
64,313,999
USBTC’s common stock has voting rights
Vested Stock Options
802,066
$0.26 and no voting rights
Unvested Stock Options
5,953,426
$0.26 and no voting rights
The below tables show the expected share ownership following the completion
of the Transaction, calculated based on the outstanding securities of Hut 8 and USBTC as at May 21, 2023 and projected as of June 30,
2023 and July 31, 2023 when assuming that the Business Combination is completed on those respective dates:
As of May 21, 2023
Hut 8
USBTC
Hut 8 Corp.
Common stock
44,255,675
43,193,282
87,448,957
Percentage of Common stock ownership
50.61%
49.39%
-
Share equivalents that are in-the-money and vested
65,319(1)
1,134,531(2)
1,199,850
Common stock and share equivalents that are in-the-money and vested
44,320,994
44,327,813
88,648,807
Percentage of Common stock and share equivalents that are in-the-money and vested
49.99%
50.01%
-
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