$MARA announcing non-dilutive acquisition of Long Ridge, a 505MW gas-fired plant in Ohio selling into PJM + ~1GW campus w/ AI/HPC potential

$MARA +11% after announcing non-dilutive acquisition of Long Ridge, a 505MW gas-fired plant in Ohio selling into PJM + \~1GW campus (up to 600MW new critical IT load) w/ AI/HPC potential

\~$1.5B EV = \~10x EBITDA (\~$144M) and \~$3.0M/MW

vs comps:

Gas M&A: \~7–8x EBITDA, \~$0.7M/MW

Miners / powered land: \~$0.3–1.0M/MW

AI infra (CIFR/WULF): \~$10–12M/MW (public EV)

MARA already operates \~200MW at the site (Hannibal), enabling near-term buildout of powered shell capacity without disrupting existing operations.

The 505MW plant will continue selling into the grid, generating cash flow while preserving optionality to layer in AI/HPC load over time.

Financing: \~$785M asset-level debt + BTC-backed equity --> avoids dilution but introduces \~5–6x leverage at the project level; future capex likely funded alongside partners (e.g., Starwood) once leases are secured.

Importantly, Fred can immediately ring the register on a new KPI: +505MW of Economic Triad capacity day 1. (ARR, the other new KPI, is still 0 until leases signed)

My 2 sats: smart non-dilutive pivot to infra, but tying incentives to MW raises the bar on not overpaying ahead of monetization.