Tether and Rumble have offered to acquire all shares of AI infrastructure operator Northern Data in a $1.17 billion deal that would make Tether Rumble’s top shareholder.
Tether and Rumble proposed to jointly acquire all Northern Data shares, taking full control of the artificial intelligence infrastructure company.
According to a Monday Rumble announcement, the deal would build on Northern Data’s existing AI and high-performance computing (HPC) operations. Tether, the issuer of the USDt (USDT) stablecoin and already Northern Data’s largest shareholder, would support the transaction. Tether has hinted at future collaborations involving AI, peer-to-peer communications and data storage solutions.
Tether deepens Northern Data ties
Tether is the centerpiece connecting every company involved in the potential deal, with the firm investing $775 million in the anti-censorship YouTube alternative Rumble at the end of 2024. The two firms deepened their collaboration in May, when Rumble announced its USDT-supporting Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoin wallet.
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Northern Data’s business is split into three divisions: Taiga Cloud, which offers GPU cloud services; Ardent Data Center, which provides data infrastructure; and Peak Mining, a Bitcoin mining operation. The company has indicated plans to sell the mining unit to focus on AI and HPC. Proceeds from the sale would be reinvested in those areas.
If the deal goes through, each Northern Data shareholder is expected to receive 2.319 newly issued Class A Rumble shares for each Northern Data share offered. This would lead to about 33.3% of Rumble ownership being ceded to Northern Data shareholders.
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Based on Rumble’s closing price of $7.88 on Friday, the offer values Northern Data shares at $18.27, or about $1.17 billion in total.
The deal is also subject to adjustment for the potential sale of Bitcoin mining unit Peak Mining. “Following completion of the Potential Offer, Tether is expected to become the single largest holder of Rumble’s Class A common stock,” the announcement said.
Tether would also amend the current loan to Northern Data to provide “sufficient financial headway for the acquired business.” Tether issued 575 million euros ($610 million) in debt financing to the company in late 2023.
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