American mining company MARA Holdings has finalized the acquisition of a 64% stake in French data center operator Exaion.
It’s time. MARA’s transaction to acquire a 64% stake in EDF subsidiary Exaion has been completed, with Xavier Niel and Fred Thiel joining Exaion’s Board as we scale secure HPC and AI infrastructure from France. pic.twitter.com/TqFiSs3Hub
— MARA (@MARA) February 20, 2026
The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. In August 2025, Bloomberg reported that MARA had offered $168 million in cash to Exaion’s owner, the investment arm of energy giant EDF.
According to a press release, EDF retained a minority stake in its former subsidiary.
As part of the deal, MARA entered into a strategic partnership with NJJ Capital, owned by French billionaire Xavier Niel. NJJ Capital will acquire a 10% stake in the miner’s financial division.
Exaion’s board of directors will include three representatives each from MARA and EDF Pulse Ventures, and one from NJJ. The board will also feature the CEO and co-founder of the data center provider, mining firm CEO Fred Thiel, and Niel.
The Cost of Delaying the AI Pivot?
In January, MARA lost its leadership among public companies in the industry by total Bitcoin hashrate. It was surpassed by Bitdeer.
In terms of market capitalization, MARA has slipped to eighth place in the segment with a valuation of $3 billion. As recently as mid-October, the company’s market value was around $8.5 billion. It has been overtaken by competitors like IREN ($13.4 billion) and TeraWulf ($6.3 billion), which are actively expanding their involvement in AI services.
MARA holds 53,250 BTC (valued at ~$3.6 billion), second only to Strategy in terms of corporate Bitcoin reserves.
Earlier in February, mining company Cango sold 4,451 BTC (approximately 60% of its cryptocurrency holdings) and announced an expansion into AI.
