MARA Diversifies into AI Infrastructure with $1.5 Billion Ohio Power Plant Acquisition

MARA has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power for approximately $1.5 billion. The transaction includes a 505-megawatt gas-fired power plant and a co-located data center facility situated on 1,600 acres in Hannibal, Ohio. This acquisition marks a significant step in MARA's strategic pivot from pure-play Bitcoin mining toward AI infrastructure and cloud services. The move follows the company's February acquisition of a 64% stake in French computing operator Exaion, reflecting a broader industry trend where miners leverage their power expertise to enter the high-performance computing (HPC) market. Financially, the deal is expected to contribute roughly $144 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA and increase MARA's owned power capacity by approximately 65%. The Ohio site's total potential capacity is projected to exceed 1 gigawatt, combining 200 MW of existing capacity with room to scale compute operations by an additional 600 MW. The transaction involves the assumption of $785 million in debt backed by a Barclays bridge loan and is expected to close in the second half of 2026. MARA intends to begin initial construction in the first half of 2027, with full operations targeted for mid-2028. Investors reacted positively to the diversification strategy, with shares surging over 12% following the announcement. This pivot mirrors similar moves by peers such as Core Scientific and CleanSpark as the industry competes for limited power resources to support AI workloads.