New Era Energy & Digital raises $140 million for Texas data center project
New Era Energy & Digital Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAI) announced it secured $140 million in combined funding for its Texas Critical Data Centers project in Ector County, Texas.
The funding consists of $115 million from a public equity offering, including the full exercise of a $15 million underwriters' option, $20 million from an initial loan under a $290 million credit facility with Macquarie Group, and $5 million from a direct equity investment by Macquarie at approximately $5 per share.
The company plans to use proceeds from the public offering to repay outstanding borrowings under its convertible promissory note with SharonAI Holdings Inc. and for general corporate purposes. The term loan will support procurement of equipment and site development for the data center project.
Texas Critical Data Centers is planned as a 438-acre data center campus designed for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing applications. The project is master planned as a multi-phase development with anticipated capacity scaling to more than one gigawatt.
The credit facility with Macquarie provides potential future availability of an additional $270 million for project development. Upon repayment of the SharonAI note, the company will eliminate existing liens and simplify its capital structure.
"With these transformative financings, we have secured the capital required to support TCDC's development beyond just phase 1, and significantly strengthened our balance sheet," said E. Will Gray II, chief executive officer of New Era.
Northland Capital Markets served as lead book-running manager for the equity offering and Texas Capital Securities served as book-running manager. The company previously announced a non-binding letter of intent with Stream Data Centers.
