Tether-Linked Buyers Close $200 Million Peak Mining Deal as Rumble Pursues $767 Million Northern Data Takeover

December 20, 2025 — Newly surfaced U.S. regulatory filings are putting sharper names and structures behind a $200 million divestment at the center of Tether’s expanding push from crypto into AI infrastructure. Peak Mining—the bitcoin-mining business that German AI and data center operator Northern Data agreed to sell—has been acquired by three entities listed in filings as Highland Group Mining Inc., Appalachian Energy LLC, and 2750418 Alberta ULC, just as Tether-backed video platform Rumble presses ahead with an all-stock plan to acquire Northern Data. ^[1]

The convergence of deals matters because Northern Data is majority-owned by a Tether entity, and the buyer identities and transaction mechanics are emerging through U.S. disclosure documents tied to Rumble’s planned exchange offer—rather than through Northern Data’s initial sale announcement. ^[2]

Below is what’s known as of 20 December 2025, how the transactions connect, and why investors across crypto, AI compute, and capital markets are paying attention.

What is Peak Mining—and what exactly was sold?

Peak Mining is Northern Data’s legacy bitcoin-mining business, the segment the company has been working to separate as it pivots toward AI cloud services and high-performance computing (HPC).

Northern Data announced on November 3, 2025 that it completed the divestiture of Peak Mining for up to $200 million. The structure described by the company includes:

$50 million up-front proceeds
Up to $150 million in deferred consideration tied to a profit share from mining operations at the company’s Corpus Christi site
A structure that, according to Northern Data, still allows it to pursue HPC upside at Corpus Christi during the earn-out window ^[3]

Northern Data also disclosed key infrastructure context: its Corpus Christi sites have 600 MW of available grid capacity, with 100 MW used for bitcoin mining at the time of the announcement—signaling why the location is strategically relevant for both mining economics and potential AI compute conversion. ^[4]

Filings reveal the Peak Mining buyers and the deal mechanics

While Northern Data’s November announcement described the economics, U.S. filings connected to Rumble’s Northern Data transaction spell out who the buyers are and how the transfer was executed.

A Transaction Support Agreement filed with the SEC states that on November 3, 2025, Northern Data sold its bitcoin-mining business pursuant to a “merger and equity purchase agreement” involving: ^[5]

Highland Group Mining Inc. (described as a British Virgin Islands business company and “Buyer Parent”)
Appalachian Energy LLC (a Delaware LLC and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Buyer Parent, acting as “Merger Sub”)
2750418 Alberta ULC (an Alberta unlimited liability corporation, described as “CA Buyer”) ^[6]

The filing further outlines the transaction path:

The Alberta entity purchased certain Canadian subsidiaries of Northern Data; and
The Delaware “Merger Sub” merged into Northern Data US, Inc., leaving Northern Data US as the surviving company under the buyer structure. ^[7]

That level of procedural detail is typical of cross-border carve-outs where assets and liabilities must be separated cleanly—especially when the seller is simultaneously preparing for a larger corporate transaction.

Why the buyer identities are drawing scrutiny

The story’s intensity comes from ownership proximity—and the fact that the buyer names became widely discussed only after U.S. filings linked to the Rumble deal highlighted them.

Financial Times reporting (published December 19 and widely circulating through December 20) describes the buyers as being tied to Tether leadership, pointing to corporate records that link Highland Group to Giancarlo Devasini and Paolo Ardoino, and describing 2750418 Alberta ULC as having Devasini as sole director according to a Canadian document. ^[8]

FT also reported uncertainty over who runs Appalachian Energy LLC, which is based in Delaware. ^[9]

In plain terms, the combination of (1) a Tether-controlled seller (Northern Data), (2) a divestment timed around a major takeover, and (3) buyer entities reported as linked to senior Tether figures, is exactly the pattern that tends to raise questions about governance, transparency, and valuation discipline—even when transactions are fully legal and properly documented.

Northern Data is majority-owned by a Tether entity

One reason U.S. filings matter here is that they provide unusually explicit ownership details.

The same SEC-filed agreement states that Tether Investments, S.A. de C.V. owned 41,887,766 shares of Northern Data—about 65.2% of Northern Data’s outstanding share capital as of the filing date. ^[10]

That majority stake makes Peak Mining’s sale and Rumble’s takeover bid part of the same broader corporate sphere—particularly when the financing and customer agreements around the acquisition also involve Tether.

Rumble’s Northern Data deal: offer ratio, extra cash, and key conditions

Rumble’s planned acquisition of Northern Data is structured as a voluntary public exchange offer.

According to Rumble’s Form 8‑K filed with the SEC, under the Business Combination Agreement:

Each Northern Data share tendered and accepted would be exchanged for 2.0281 shares of Rumble Class A common stock (the “Offer Ratio”). ^[11]
The offer also contemplates a potential cash payment of up to $200 million in aggregate—but only if specific conditions are met. ^[12]

That possible cash component is linked to a highly specific trigger: it becomes payable solely in the event of a successful sale and/or achievement of commercialization milestones involving Northern Data’s previously owned Corpus Christi location being evaluated under an exclusivity agreement for HPC purposes. ^[13]

The SEC filing also lays out notable closing conditions, including:

Prospectus approval considerations in Germany (BaFin)
Investment control and other regulatory clearances
A condition tied to an independent investigation report related to ongoing proceedings involving the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Swedish Tax Authority, and VAT-related allegations ^[14]

A long “drop dead” date is also specified: the regulatory condition must be satisfied on or prior to December 31, 2026. ^[15]

The Tether–Rumble commercial ties: $100M advertising plus $150M GPU services

As Rumble positions the Northern Data deal as a pivot into AI infrastructure, Tether is not only an investor in the broader ecosystem—it is also signing large commercial commitments.

$100 million advertising commitment

Rumble announced a $100 million advertising commitment with Tether, structured as $50 million per year over two years, beginning in Q1 2026. ^[16]

Rumble explicitly framed this as incremental support alongside the Northern Data transaction and the GPU services commitment described below. ^[17]

Up to $150 million in GPU services

Rumble also announced an initial commitment by Tether to purchase up to $150 million of GPU services over a two-year period following the closing of Rumble’s exchange offer for Northern Data. ^[18]

Importantly, Rumble stated the GPU purchase agreement becomes effective only at the closing of the exchange offer—meaning it is contingent on the acquisition being completed. ^[19]

Rumble’s strategic pitch: “Freedom-First” AI infrastructure

In its deal messaging, Rumble has positioned the Northern Data acquisition as a foundational step toward a “Freedom‑First” ecosystem—combining cloud, video, and AI infrastructure under a strategy rooted in independence and resilience. ^[20]

How the Peak Mining sale fits into the takeover puzzle

From a sequencing standpoint, Peak Mining’s divestment is not a footnote—it’s a gating item that simplifies Northern Data ahead of acquisition.

Reuters previously reported that Rumble’s Northern Data pursuit assumed the disposal of Peak Mining, and that the finalized November transaction includes a Tether GPU-leasing agreement as part of the broader package. ^[21]

That’s consistent with the strategic logic seen across the sector: separating lower-multiple, higher-regulatory-friction mining assets from higher-multiple AI/HPC assets can make the remaining entity easier to finance, easier to value, and more digestible for public-market investors.

Market and governance implications investors are watching on December 20

As this story circulates on December 20, market attention is clustering around a few practical questions:

1) Related-party risk and disclosure pathways

The buyers’ identities surfacing through U.S. filings—rather than the initial Northern Data sale announcement—has renewed focus on where and how investors get visibility into related-party transactions in cross-border structures. ^[22]

2) Corpus Christi as the hinge asset

Corpus Christi shows up repeatedly:

It anchors Peak Mining’s earn-out economics (per Northern Data) ^[23]
It may also drive the $200 million contingent cash component in Rumble’s exchange offer (per SEC filing) ^[24]

In other words: one location could influence multiple payout legs across two separate transactions.

3) Regulatory and investigation overhangs

Rumble’s SEC disclosure explicitly ties a condition for publishing the offer document to an independent investigation report connected to VAT-related proceedings involving European authorities. ^[25]

Financial Times reporting also highlighted European tax fraud scrutiny around VAT matters in connection with Northern Data’s legacy operations, and noted a sharp market reaction after the buyer identities became public. ^[26]

4) Tether’s growing role in AI compute markets

Whether one views it as diversification or consolidation, the deal stack shows Tether extending beyond stablecoins into:

Majority ownership in an AI/HPC infrastructure firm (Northern Data) ^[27]
A major strategic investment in Rumble (closed in early 2025, per Rumble) ^[28]
Large-scale commercial commitments for GPU services and advertising with Rumble ^[29]

What happens next

Near-term, the next milestones investors and industry watchers will likely track include:

Rumble’s S‑4 registration process and timing for the exchange offer launch (as described in SEC disclosures) ^[30]
Whether the independent investigation condition is satisfied and how it is summarized in eventual offer documentation ^[31]
Any additional filings that shed more light on Peak Mining’s operational footprint under the new owner entities, and how Northern Data’s remaining cloud and data center assets are positioned post-divestiture ^[32]
Whether Tether’s GPU services and advertising commitments translate into measurable revenue streams for Rumble’s cloud and wallet strategy once the acquisition closes ^[33]

For now, as of December 20, 2025, the core picture is clear: the Peak Mining carve-out is complete on paper, buyer entities are named in U.S. filings, and the divestment sits directly upstream of a headline-grabbing public-market push to fold Northern Data into Rumble—backed by Tether capital and long-dated compute demand. ^[34]