Rumble is moving forward with an all-share offer to acquire German data center operator Northern Data, with the valuation coming in below Northern Data’s roughly $894 million market cap, according to Bloomberg, which claimed the agreement will be announced within days.
Both of these companies share a major financial backer in Tether Holdings, and the takeover is expected to support Rumble’s effort to expand from video hosting into cloud infrastructure.
The offer being discussed would give Northern Data shareholders fewer shares of Rumble than previously proposed, so the exchange ratio has changed from 2.319 Rumble shares for each Northern Data share to around 2 shares.
The earlier plan had projected a combined company worth about $4.5 billion with Northern Data investors holding a third of the new entity. Due to declining stock prices on both sides, the combined valuation now sits near $2.9 billion.
Stake terms adjusted and loan forgiveness included
As part of the deal structure, Tether would forgo a significant portion of a €575 million loan issued to Northern Data.
Confidence around Northern Data weakened after news that European prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the company. Authorities are examining whether Northern Data purchased large quantities of GPUs for a facility in northern Sweden while claiming tax incentives meant for artificial intelligence computing.
Investigators are reviewing whether those GPUs were actually used for crypto mining instead. The investigation pushed the company’s share price lower and intensified the urgency to resolve its financial position.
Last week, Northern Data sold its mining division, Peak Mining, for up to $200 million. The buyer was not publicly identified, though individuals familiar with the matter said the buyer is also connected to Tether.
The sale removes a unit that had drawn regulatory attention and allows Northern Data to focus on its cloud and high-performance computing operations ahead of the anticipated merger.
Tether profit strength drives influence across sectors
At the same time, Tether is reporting record financial performance. Paolo Ardoino, chief executive of Tether, said, “This year we’re going to approach another $15 billion profit. That’s very rare,” during remarks in Lugano at the Plan B Forum.
USDT, the stablecoin issued by Tether, has around $183 billion in circulation and accounts for about 60% of the stablecoin market.
Even with these profits, outside firms have expressed interest in investing. Talks have taken place about raising up to $20 billion in exchange for roughly a 3% stake, which would value Tether at around $500 billion.
Paolo said many companies are approaching them, stating, “We have been contacted by an enormous amount of companies that want to invest in us. We have to draw a line in the sand on a valuation that we think is very cheap.”
Tether is preparing to re-enter the United States later next year through a new stablecoin project called USAT that reportedly aligns with pro-crypto policies under President Donald Trump.
Tether now owns an 11.5% stake in Italian football club Juventus. Paolo and Tether chairman Giancarlo Devasini have supported the club since childhood.
Tether has nominated two individuals to join Juventus’ board at the next shareholder meeting, including its deputy chief investment officer and a local orthodontic specialist.
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