· Aker becomes one of Nscale's largest shareholders, alongside global leaders
· Series B round gives Aker a 9.3% ownership in Nscale on a fully diluted
basis
· Aker's 50% stake in the Aker-Narvik joint venture can be converted into
additional Nscale shares at a future IPO - positions Aker to benefit from long
-term value creation and public market upside
Oslo, Norway - 25 September 2025 - Nscale Global Holdings Ltd. ("Nscale"), a
leader in sovereign-grade AI infrastructure, today announced the close of an
oversubscribed USD 1.1 billion Series B funding round. Aker ASA ("Aker"),
through a wholly owned subsidiary, participated alongside global investors in
backing Nscale's hyperscale AI infrastructure vision.
Aker's Series B commitment totals USD 285 million, consisting of both cash and a
portion of the Narvik land portfolio contributed in-kind. The land will be
transferred to the previously announced Aker-Nscale joint venture. Through this
participation, Aker becomes one of Nscale's largest shareholders, with 9.3%
ownership on a fully diluted basis. A potential future earn-out could further
increase Aker's ownership to 12.2%.
Øyvind Eriksen, President and CEO of Aker ASA, will join Nscale's Board of
Directors. Commenting on the investment, Eriksen said:
"AI is reshaping the global economy and redefining the value of renewable
energy. With Nscale, we're backing infrastructure that's sovereign, scalable,
and purpose-built to accelerate this transformation. Nscale's full-stack, GPU
-first model gives it a real edge in execution. The scale and quality of this
Series B round are a testament to Nscale's vision and momentum - and to the
strength of our collaboration. Through both our investment and joint venture,
we're making a significant, long-term commitment to building industrial
relevance in the age of AI."
The Aker-Nscale joint venture is expected to close in Q4. It will be established
through a combination of assets and capital contributions from both parties,
including all sites in Aker's Narvik portfolio. Aker and Nscale will each hold
50% ownership in the JV. The partnership agreement is structured to allow Aker's
JV stake to convert into additional Nscale shares at a future IPO, potentially
unlocking significant value. OpenAI and Microsoft have been announced as the
JV's first customers.
-ENDS-
?About Nscale
Nscale?is the global hyperscaler engineered for sovereign-grade AI
infrastructure, delivering compute to the generative AI market at scale. Through
its fully vertically integrated suite of AI solutions and GW+ greenfield data
centers across Europe and North America, Nscale enables customers to run
efficient and scalable AI training, fine-tuning, and inferencing workloads. For
further information, see www.nscale.com
About Aker
Aker ASA is an industrial investment company headquartered in Fornebu, Norway.
Founded in 1841, Aker builds and develops leading companies across energy,
industrial software, renewables, and marine biotechnology. As the largest
shareholder in several listed and privately held companies, Aker combines deep
industrial expertise, financial strength, and capital markets insight to drive
long-term value creation through active ownership. For further information,
see www.akerasa.com
Media contact:
Atle Kigen, Head of Media Relations and Public Affairs
Tel: +47 90 78 48 78
E-mail: atle.kigen@akerasa.com
Investor contact:
Fredrik Berge, Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +47 45 03 20 90
E-mail: fredrik.berge@akerasa.com
This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU
Market Abuse Regulation article 7 and is subject to the disclosure requirements
pursuant to MAR article 17 and Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading
Act. This stock exchange announcement was published by Fredrik Berge, Head of
IR, Aker ASA, on September 25 2025, 08:58 CEST.