German technology group Northern Data has received a firm offer to be acquired by an ‘alt-tech’ video platform and cloud services provider.

Over the weekend, Northern Data announced it has entered into a business combination agreement with Rumble Inc. for 100 percent of the outstanding shares of Northern Data.

The transaction, which would include Northern’s colocation and cloud businesses, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

John Hoffman, co-CEO of Northern Data, said: “The AI revolution requires a complete redesign of compute architecture, one that is underpinned not only by large-scale GPU deployments and access to energy but a foundational commitment to individual control, customer enablement, and scaled access to capital.

“Rumble’s Freedom-First initiative, combined with Tether’s vision alongside Northern Data’s robust asset base, creates a highly disruptive force in the AI infrastructure market.”

Rumble, a video platform and cloud services provider that promises not to cancel users, said the deal will enable it to scale and expand its cloud business with the addition of one of the largest estates of GPUs in Europe, along with a data center business.

“This transaction marks a transformational step in Rumble’s vision of building a Freedom-First ecosystem, which represents a new way forward for tech rooted in freedom, privacy, independence, and resilience,” Rumble said.

Founded in 2023, Rumble operates the Rumble video platform and Rumble Cloud units and went public in 2022 via a SPAC merger. The company espouses freedom and promises not to cancel customers. Rumble Cloud hosts Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform.

Rumble’s current data center footprint is unclear. The company says its Rumble Cloud covers “several geographic regions” in the United States.

Northern Data operates GPU clusters in Europe through its Taiga Cloud business, totaling more than 22,000 GPUs, while its Ardent Data Centers business has approximately 250MW of capacity online or in development across eight global data centers in the US and Europe by 2027 – a mixture of colocation and owned sites.

Under the deal, each Northern Data shareholder who tenders will receive 2.0281 newly issued Class A Rumble shares in exchange for each Northern Data share. Shareholders will also gain a cash payment, for a total of $200 million across all investors.

Cryptomining company Tether is currently a major shareholder in both Northern Data and Rumble.

Tether, Northern Data co-CEO Aroosh Thillainathan, and another significant shareholder, collectively representing approximately 72 percent, have committed to sell their Northern Data shares to Rumble.

“Northern Data. Tether. Rumble. This is how we build the AI ecosystem for the future, from the ground up,” said Chris Pavlovski, Rumble CEO. “Freedom-First is the new way forward for tech. Unlike Big Tech, it represents a future where technology empowers rather than controls. Built on the principles of free speech, privacy, independence, and resilience, Freedom-First seeks to ensure that people—not unaccountable digital gatekeepers—are in charge.”

He continued: “The addition of GPUs and data centers to our existing video and cloud portfolio would just be the start. Our vision is to continue building out this ecosystem with the addition of new verticals, including financial services like Rumble Wallet, AI chatbots and agents, productivity suite with email and storage, and new web navigation solutions, all in the name of freedom, privacy, independence, and resilience.”

Northern Data also noted that its Corpus Christi campus in Texas could be sold to a “leading global infrastructure asset management firm” that is currently evaluating the location for HPC purposes under an exclusivity agreement. The group’s Corpus Christi sites currently have 600MW of available grid capacity, of which 100MW is used for Bitcoin mining operations.

Over the weekend, Northern Data also announced the sale of a historical equity investment in Lancium Inc. for $30 million. Lancium is a powered land company best known as the landowner for OpenAI’s Stargate development in Abilene, Texas.

Northern and Rumble also noted a customer agreement with Tether in an aggregate amount of up to $150 million for GPU leasing over a two-year term.

Northern Data was founded as Northern Bitcoin AG in Germany in 2009 and branded itself as a ‘green’ Bitcoin mining company.

In 2020, Northern Bitcoin was officially renamed Northern Data Group and moved its focus to HPC. And in the summer of 2023, Northern split its business into three brands: Taiga Cloud, Ardent Data Centers, and Peak Mining.

Northern Data’s Taiga unit operates more than 22,000 GPUs. Ardent Data Centers has approximately 250MW of power deployed or coming online across eight global data centers by 2027, according to Northern.

Ardent operates data centers in Boden, Sweden; Lefdal and Kristiansand, Norway. The Lefdal site is hosted by Lefdal Mine, and Kristiansand by Bulk. In June 2025, Northern launched a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, data center that will be operated by Ardent.

The company is also planning a large development in Maysville, Georgia. Northern’s most recent earnings presentation says the group also has colocation capacity in the UK and Portugal. Its website also lists a 6MW site in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Northern Data is divesting its cryptomining unit.