PANews reported on July 2 that according to Bloomberg, Northern Data AG is in talks with potential advisers to merge its AI cloud computing (Taiga) and data center (Ardent) businesses for an IPO in the U.S. with a valuation of up to $16 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has invited several institutions to bid for the advisory role and may appoint a lead bank in the coming months. It plans to land on Nasdaq as early as the first half of next year. The bank's valuation is recommended to be between $10 billion and $16 billion, and the company may also sell a minority stake in the business unit to investors before such a listing. People familiar with the matter said that discussions are still ongoing, details may change, and the company may decide not to continue to consider strategic options. Representatives of Northern Data declined to comment.
Northern Data shares are down about 5% this year, giving it a market value of about $1.4 billion. The move comes amid a wave of investment in AI cloud computing. Northern Data told analysts and investors in November that it was considering a separate IPO for its cloud computing unit and planned to list its bitcoin mining business in the United States. According to a statement in May, the company's U.S. bitcoin mining unit Peak Mining is actively building or developing nearly 700 megawatts of data centers, which would make it one of the largest cryptocurrency miners in the United States. However, falling crypto mining profit margins have prompted miners to transform their high-energy data centers into digital infrastructure to support generative artificial intelligence applications. In November, Northern Data received a 575 million euro debt financing facility from stablecoin company Tether Group and completed the acquisition of Tether's 400 million euro investment vehicle in January. The company is using the funds to buy the most sought-after Nvidia chips and will deploy about 20,000 H100 AI chips by the end of this summer.
