Applied Digital Locks In $5B from Macquarie to Build Data Centers

Applied Digital (APLD) has secured a $5 billion perpetual preferred equity financing facility with Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) for its HPC unit. The agreement includes an investment of up to $900 million and 15% common equity interest in the Ellendale HPC Campus in North Dakota and rights for MAM to invest up to an additional $4.1 billion across future data center projects.

The preferred equity will pay a 12.75% yearly dividend. The investment revenues, together with future project finance, will help to fund the 400 MW Ellendale HPC Campus build-out, repay $180 million in bridge debt, and allow the business to recover more than $300 million of its equity investment.

The closing is contingent upon executing a 100 MW hyperscaler lease at Ellendale. At closing, MAM will fund $225 million, with additional amounts available upon executing further acceptable leases.

“At today’s build costs, we will have a significant portion of the equity needed to construct over 2 GW of HPC data center capacity, including our Ellendale HPC Campus,” said Wes Cummins, chairman and CEO of Applied Digital.

Northland Capital Markets served as sole placement agent, with Goldman Sachs acting as senior financial advisor. Citizens JMP Securities, TD Securities, and Needham & Company also provided financial advisory services for the transaction.