MARA Holdings has completed its acquisition of a 64 percent stake in French high performance computing firm Exaion, marking a major step in its expansion into artificial intelligence and secure cloud services.
Key Takeaways
- MARA Holdings acquired a 64 percent majority stake in Exaion, a subsidiary of EDF.
- EDF Group remains a minority shareholder and customer of Exaion.
- NJJ, backed by billionaire Xavier Niel, will take a 10 percent stake in MARA France.
- The deal strengthens MARA’s shift from Bitcoin mining toward AI and high performance computing cloud services.
What Happened?
The acquisition, first announced on August 11, 2025, has now cleared all regulatory approvals and is officially complete. MARA now controls Exaion through its French entity, MARA France, while EDF retains a minority position and continues as a client.
The partnership also brings in NJJ, the investment vehicle of French telecom billionaire Xavier Niel, further reinforcing Exaion’s board and strategic direction.
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
MARA Expands Beyond Bitcoin Mining
MARA Holdings, long known as one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, is accelerating its pivot into artificial intelligence and high performance computing. By acquiring a majority stake in Exaion, MARA gains access to enterprise and government clients across Europe seeking secure cloud and AI infrastructure.
Exaion develops and operates high performance computing data centers and provides secure cloud and artificial intelligence services. The goal of the partnership between MARA, EDF and NJJ is to accelerate Exaion’s expansion and position it as a leading European player in digital infrastructure.
For MARA, this represents more than geographic expansion. It signals a broader transformation from a pure crypto mining company into a diversified infrastructure provider serving AI and enterprise computing demand.
Strategic Partnership With EDF and NJJ
The transaction originated from an investment agreement signed on August 11, 2025, between MARA and EDF Pulse Ventures, the venture arm of EDF Group. After fulfilling regulatory conditions, the deal has now closed.
EDF remains a minority shareholder and customer of Exaion. As one of the world’s largest low carbon energy providers, EDF brings access to a largely decarbonized electricity mix. In 2025, EDF reported 95 percent decarbonized output totaling 515 terawatt hours and carbon intensity of 26.5 grams of CO2 per kilowatt hour. The group generated €113.3 billion in consolidated sales and serves approximately 41 million customers.
France’s strong nuclear powered grid offers MARA access to stable and relatively low cost electricity, which is critical for both Bitcoin mining and AI workloads.
As part of the transaction, NJJ will acquire a 10 percent stake in MARA France. Xavier Niel and MARA CEO Fred Thiel will both join Exaion’s board of directors. The eight member board will include:
- Three representatives appointed by MARA
- Three representatives appointed by EDF Pulse Ventures
- One representative appointed by NJJ
- Exaion’s CEO and co founder
This governance structure reflects a balanced partnership between energy, infrastructure and telecom expertise.
Positioning for AI Cloud Growth
The move aligns with a wider industry trend where Bitcoin miners leverage existing power agreements, cooling systems and data center expertise to support artificial intelligence workloads. AI training demand has strained global data center capacity, creating opportunities for operators with ready infrastructure.
Recent analysis suggests the Exaion acquisition gives MARA access to established enterprise and government AI clients in Europe. The company has also strengthened its power strategy through a partnership with MPLX, securing scalable natural gas power capacity in the United States. Together, these initiatives position MARA to compete more directly in the AI cloud space.
For investors, the deal introduces a potential non Bitcoin revenue stream. Diversification into AI and high performance computing could reduce MARA’s reliance on crypto market cycles and improve revenue stability over time.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
In my experience, this is one of the most important strategic moves MARA has made in years. I found that many Bitcoin miners talk about diversification, but few execute at this scale. By partnering with EDF and Xavier Niel, MARA is not just experimenting with AI. It is building a serious foothold in Europe’s digital infrastructure market.
If Exaion successfully expands its secure cloud and AI services, MARA could evolve into a hybrid infrastructure company with exposure to both crypto and artificial intelligence growth trends. That combination, in my view, gives the company a stronger long term story than relying on Bitcoin mining alone.
