MARA Holdings says the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved its purchase of Long Ridge Energy & Power, the owner of a combined-cycle gas plant and a large site in Hannibal, Ohio. In its third-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, dated Nov. 9, 2026 and posted on the SEC's EDGAR site, the company wrote: "At Long Ridge, we recently received FERC approval, and we expect to close the transaction in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions."
That statement comes from the company. DataCenterFeed has not reviewed the FERC order itself. Whatever the order says, the deal still has to close. MARA's own filings set a deadline for that, and they describe how the company planned to pay for the purchase.
The Deal on Paper
MARA first described the transaction in Note 18, "Subsequent Events," of its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. According to that filing, MARA USA Corporation agreed on April 29, 2026, to buy 100% of Long Ridge Energy & Power LLC from subsidiaries of FTAI Infrastructure Inc. The 10-Q gives a base purchase price of approximately $1.5 billion, "subject to customary purchase price adjustments, including the assumption of Long Ridge's existing indebtedness." Elsewhere the 10-Q puts that existing indebtedness at $900.0 million.
The 10-Q describes the assets as a 485-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbine plant in Hannibal and more than 1,600 contiguous acres with access to water, fiber and rail, adjacent to MARA's existing Hannibal data center operations. To finance the deal, MARA entered into a commitment letter with Barclays for a 364-day senior secured bridge term loan facility of up to $785.0 million, which the filing says is intended to backstop MARA's assumption of Long Ridge's existing debt. Closing conditions include regulatory approvals under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and from FERC. Either party may terminate the agreement if the deal has not closed by November 30, 2026. That date extends to June 30, 2027, if certain regulatory conditions remain unsatisfied. The 10-Q also says MARA may be required, under certain circumstances, to pay a $75.0 million termination fee.
What MARA Says It Is Buying
MARA's April 30 announcement, reproduced by Pulse 2.0, put the total transaction value at about $1.5 billion including the assumption of certain debt. It described the plant as a 505-MW combined-cycle facility on more than 1,600 contiguous acres, with more than 1 GW of total potential power capacity across generation and load. According to the announcement, the deal would raise MARA's owned-and-operated power capacity by approximately 65%, to approximately 2.2 gigawatts. At that point the company expected the deal to close in the second half of 2026.
The announcement also included the asset's financial figures as stated by the company. It said Long Ridge generates approximately $144 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA, based on second-half 2025 performance, with all-in operating costs of less than $15 per MWh supported by long-dated hedges. DataCenterFeed has not independently verified these figures. MARA's financial advisors were Barclays Capital and Compass Point Research and Trading, and its legal advisors were Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison and Sidley Austin. FTAI Infrastructure's financial advisors were Jefferies and Lazard, and its legal advisor was Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, according to the announcement.
The filings use two capacity numbers, and they have different meanings. The Q3 letter says the plant is currently authorized to sell 485 MW and is expected to reach its full 505 MW nameplate capacity in the first half of 2027. The earlier 10-Q gave the second half of 2026 for that 505 MW figure. The company's filings do not explain why the timing changed. The letter also says the site has over 1,600 contiguous acres with access to power, water, fiber and rail. Combined with MARA's existing Bitcoin mining operations there, the company says the site would have over 1 GW of total potential capacity.
The AI Buildout Timeline
MARA's case for the deal centers on a data center campus with its own on-site power supply. According to the April announcement, the company expects construction of an initial AI and critical IT buildout to begin in the first half of 2027, with initial capacity targeted to be ready for service in mid-2028. It says it has multiple paths to expand capacity at the site to up to 600 gross MW over time. All of these targets come from the company. None is a permit, a contract or a construction start.
In the Q3 letter, MARA says it is targeting signing two data center leases before year-end, and that market conditions are fluid and the timing could slip into next year. The letter does not name tenants, and the passage on those leases does not say where they would be located.
Other Items in the Letter
The Q3 letter covers several other infrastructure items:
- Texas site. MARA says it secured the rights to develop a site in Matagorda County, Texas, with up to 2 GW of power capacity. The company says ERCOT recently classified it as a studied load in the Batch Zero process. According to the letter, payments to the sellers are contingent on power being approved, and none have been made to date.
- GPU services. MARA's subsidiary Exaion signed a four-year, $79 million GPU-as-a-service contract on 100% take-or-pay terms, according to the letter. The company also cites a pipeline of more than $3 billion in total contract value. The letter says these are indications of demand and are not yet contracted.
- Buyback. After quarter-end, the board authorized a share repurchase program of up to $500.0 million, according to the letter.
Why the Structure Matters
Long Ridge is an example of buying an operating power plant and the land around it. The Hannibal site already sits next to MARA's existing data center operations, according to the 10-Q. In the Q3 letter, MARA says new generation and transmission take years to build, and that sites that are already energized or have a credible path to near-term power command a premium. MARA presents the plant's output, the acreage and the water, fiber and rail access as one package for building load on the site. How much of the plant's output would go to on-site computing, and how much would be sold to the market, depends on buildout decisions the company has not yet announced.
What Happens Next
MARA says it expects to close the Long Ridge acquisition "in the coming weeks, subject to customary conditions," according to its Nov. 9 shareholder letter. Under the purchase agreement described in the 10-Q, either party may terminate if the deal has not closed by November 30, 2026. That date extends to June 30, 2027, if certain regulatory conditions remain unsatisfied. After closing, the company's next stated milestone is the start of construction for the initial AI buildout in the first half of 2027.
