Mulig Nscale-gigantavtale: – Aker-aksjen fortjener rekyl

The British datacenter company Nscale is in negotiations with AI giant Anthropic for a deal worth around 45 billion dollars, equivalent to several hundred billion kroner. Bloomberg reported this to The Guardian on Monday evening, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. Nscale, where Kjell Inge Røkke, including Aker, holds a significant stake, is in talks to provide computational power from another data center facility at the Monarch project in West Virginia, USA.

Bloomberg suggests the deal may be finalized within the next few days, but no final decision has been made yet. Bernt Berg-Nielsen of Stolt Kapital believes the potential agreement could bolster Nscale's prospects ahead of its planned stock listing. He argues that the Aker share could benefit from a boost following this deal, according to him in an email to E24.

He refers to recent rumors about investor interest in a valuation of Nscale between 16 and 19 billion dollars, which is lower than the 30 billion previously discussed but higher than the 14.3 billion valuation in a previous financing round. The center of this range corresponds to a valuation of 17.5 billion dollars, which is roughly a 17.5 billion dollar valuation.

At the end of the second quarter, Aker's equity was valued at 1,429 Norwegian kroner per share, of which Nscale accounted for 431 kroner, according to Berg-Nielsen. He estimates the value of the Nscale investment will increase to around 550 kroner per share if the company is valued at 17.5 billion dollars. With contributions from Aker BP in the third quarter, he estimates Aker's total equity valuation could reach around 1,600 kroner per share.

The manager believes today's Aker price already accounts for a Nscale valuation of around 13 billion dollars or a discount to Aker's equity valuation of more than 20 percent. Historically, the Røkke discount has been around 20 percent. The reason Aker is being offered a larger discount than Scandinavian companies is unclear. Røkke discounts show that Aker shares have historically been traded at a lower price than the company's underlying assets.

Nscale has already signed agreements with Anthropic for AI infrastructure worth up to 44.6 billion dollars, according to documents related to the planned stock listing. The new agreement could come on top of that. Bloomberg reports that Nscale's total order reserve could reach 150 billion dollars if the deal is made. According to Bloomberg, the new data center facility will provide 460 megawatts of computational power and use Nvidia's upcoming Vera Rubin chips.

Anthropic will also have the right of first refusal for capacity in a third planned building at the site. Microsoft previously planned to lease capacity at Monarch project but withdrew from the project in the summer. This opened the door for Anthropic to take over as a customer, according to Bloomberg. At the same time, Berg-Nielsen emphasizes that these massive deals pose significant financing requirements for the data centers.

"It is important for Aker to have good control over financing and the level of debt," he says. He believes it is important to bring in solid investors and lenders. Berg-Nielsen also highlights the experience of Aker's main shareholder and CEO, Øyvind Eriksen - If anyone can navigate the capital market, it is Røkke and Eriksen, he says.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that multiple investors have asked Nscale to lower its valuation expectations before the stock listing. On Sunday, Bloomberg reported that Nscale is facing opposition from a group of investors who believe a valuation between 16 and 19 billion dollars is more likely. Nscale and Anthropic have not commented on the rumors of a potential deal to The Guardian.