FERC Approves MARA's Acquisition of the Long Ridge Gas Plant for $1.51 Billion

Huoxing Finance reports that on November 5, according to a post by Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved MARA Holdings’ (MARA) acquisition of the Long Ridge natural gas power generation assets (Case No. EC26-92). Sigel noted that objections raised by the Independent Market Monitor (IMM) based on concerns related to BlackRock and Vanguard were not upheld, and FERC also declined to require that the plant’s output remain connected to the PJM grid as a condition of approval. According to his analysis, the enterprise value of the transaction is approximately $1.512 billion, corresponding to about 0.5 GW of natural gas generation capacity (approved output of 485 MW, nameplate capacity of 505 MW) and approximately $144 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA, implying a valuation multiple of roughly 10.5x. Recent valuations for gas-fired power plants in PJM have been around 7x; based on this, the plant itself is valued at approximately $1 billion, with MARA paying an additional $500 million for land, gas wells, rail access, and expansion options. MARA will retain approximately $900 million in Long Ridge debt and requires about $610 million in cash, which is expected to be covered by a $600 million bitcoin-backed loan drawn in August. The external closing date for the transaction is November 30. Sigel highlighted that MARA has referenced a total AI load of approximately 600 MW at the site, including about 200 MW of existing connected load; it remains unclear whether the expansion will proceed via a joint venture with Starwood or whether MARA can retain up to 50% ownership. He suggested that the next catalyst may be the execution of a lease agreement around or shortly after closing.