tl;dr
Rumble, a live streaming platform and Bitcoin holder, plans to acquire Northern Data, an AI and high-performance computing provider, through a stock exchange offering. Northern Data shareholders will receive 2.319 Rumble shares per share, resulting in an estimated 33.3% ownership in Rumble. The acqu...
Live streaming platform and Bitcoin-hodler Rumble is expanding into artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) by planning to acquire Northern Data, a provider specializing in AI and HPC infrastructure. The acquisition will be a stock exchange offer, where Rumble will issue newly minted Class A shares in return for Northern Data's shares. Each Northern Data shareholder would receive 2.319 Rumble shares per share, granting them an estimated 33.3% ownership in Rumble pending final negotiations and due diligence.
The motivation behind this acquisition is to solidify Rumble’s position as a global AI cloud leader by integrating Northern Data’s key assets, including Ardent (data centers) and Taiga (GPU-as-a-service). Taiga manages a large GPU fleet, notably with over 20,000 Nvidia H100 and H200 GPUs. Northern Data’s five data centers boast a combined energized capacity near 850 MW, including a site in Maysville, Georgia expected to achieve up to 180 MW capacity when fully operational.
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski emphasized in the company’s second quarter results that this move marks a new phase of aggressive growth aimed at supporting a free and open internet. Pavlovski expressed ambitions not only to compete with big tech giants but to surpass them through bold initiatives in cloud and AI development.
Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, plays a crucial role in the deal, having invested heavily in both Rumble and Northern Data over the past year as part of its diversification strategy. Tether currently owns 54% of Northern Data and plans to sell its entire stake to Rumble under the same share exchange terms. Post-transaction, Tether is set to become the largest shareholder of Rumble’s Class A common stock, while Pavlovski will retain majority voting control.
Additionally, Tether intends to sign a multi-year GPU purchase agreement with Rumble and restructure its existing loan to Northern Data, providing the merged entity with enhanced financial flexibility to support its ambitious growth plans.