IREN Acquires Mirantis for $625M to Strengthen AI Cloud Infrastructure Management

Neocloud IREN buys OpenStack champion Mirantis

Neocloud IREN has decided to buy Mirantis, and the two plan to build an open AI stack. Mirantis made its name developing open source cloud infrastructure, such as its OpenStack distribution, hyperconverged appliances, and Kubernetes tools. In 2025, the company introduced the k0rdent AI platform, a tool for automating deployment of AI infrastructure. Formed in 2018, IREN started life as Iris Energy. As its 2021 prospectus explains, the company went looking for sources of cheap energy, built or acquired datacenters in the vicinity, then started mining bitcoin. In 2023, the company decided to get into the generative AI business and started buying Nvidia GPUs. A rebrand followed and saw Iris Energy name itself after its NASDAQ ticker "IREN." IREN initially built facilities in the Canadian province of British Columbia, then branched out to build bit barns in Texas and Oklahoma. The company now operates six datacenters, says it offers 810 megawatts of compute capacity, has 2,100 MW under construction, 1,600 MW in development, and has secure agreements to tap more than 4.5 GW worth of juice. Microsoft likes IREN's plans so much it signed up for $9.7 billion worth of GPU access over five years. The datacenter operator's announcement of the acquisition says Mirantis will continue to operate as an independent business, but will also support IREN's cloud deployments. "The acquisition of Mirantis builds on IREN's existing software, engineering and customer support capabilities, enhancing how compute is deployed, managed and operated for customers," the announcement states. "As deployments grow, ensuring reliable provisioning, monitoring and support becomes increasingly important. Mirantis strengthens these capabilities with deep experience in cloud infrastructure and enterprise operations." Mirantis CEO Alex Freedland pitched the acquisition as a boost for his company's mission to create an open AI stack. "AI is reshaping what enterprise and provider infrastructure needs to do -- and the market needs an open standard for AI infrastructure that can manage that complexity at scale, across hardware, across providers, and across enterprise environments," he wrote. Mirantis CTO Shaun O'Meara also weighed in on the deal with an assurance that the company will continue to offer its products as FOSS and participate in open processes, plus an argument that becoming part of IREN will improve its offerings. "Greater investment behind us means more engineering capacity, faster iteration, and deeper community engagement - not a pivot away from the model that has defined Mirantis from the start," he wrote. IREN's announcement doesn't mention extra investment for Mirantis. It's unclear if IREN will require customers to use Mirantis' wares. The Register can't imagine Microsoft would agree to that. The deal does, however, mean k0rdent AI users will have a Neocloud that runs the way they like. It's not unusual for a cloud provider to acquire a software stack provider. Industry observer Keith Townsend last week contemplated the combination and noted that Rackspace and Equinix tried it, as did others, but all failed. "Every one of them retreated to what the market actually trusted them for - facilities, power, and cooling," he wrote. "The only thing Neoclouds have is capacity arbitrage on a timing gap. And that window closes when hyperscaler GPU supply catches up. The endgame writes itself: Neoclouds become GPU-dense colo capacity underneath someone else's platform. Their long-term value is power contracts and cooling infrastructure. Not software. Not platform. Not relationships." And IREN is already at Townsend's endgame with its Microsoft deal. ®

AI data center operator IREN to acquire Mirantis for $625M - SiliconANGLE

Artificial intelligence data center operator IREN Ltd. today announced plans to acquire Mirantis Inc., a provider of infrastructure management software. The all-stock transaction is worth $625 million. Mirantis previously raised about $220 million in funding from Intel Corp., Goldman Sachs and other investors. New York-based IREN launched in 2018 as an Australian bitcoin mining startup called Iris Energy. In early 2024, the company rebranded and shifted its focus to AI infrastructure. Last November, it won a $9.7 billion contract to provide Microsoft Corp. with 200 megawatts of AI computing capacity. IREN operates a public cloud platform that offers access to bare metal graphics card servers. Customers with more advanced requirements can partner with the company to set up custom AI data centers. IREN constructs the facilities on its own data center campuses, which have existing power delivery infrastructure that removes the need to build everything from scratch. The company's flagship campus in Sweetwater, Texas, has access to 2 gigawatts of electricity. The 1,800-acre site can host 7000,000 liquid-cooled Nvidia Corp. graphics cards. Mirantis, the company that IREN is acquiring, has also shifted its business model over the years. It originally focused on commercializing an open-source data center management platform called OpenStack. Today, Mirantis' flagship product is k0rdent, a platform that also eases infrastructure management tasks but does so differently. The software enables administrators to manage multiple Kubernetes clusters through a centralized interface. A module called the Services Controller makes it possible to extend a Kubernetes cluster with external tools such as load balancers. Another component, CAPI, enables k0rdent to run on popular public clouds. The platform allows administrators to save the configuration of a Kubernetes environment in a template. That template can be used to launch identically-configured clusters without manually setting them up, which saves time and reduces the risk of human error. After the initial cluster deployment process is complete, administrators can use k0rdent to carry out day-to-day maintenance tasks. Some of the platform's features are specifically geared towards AI clusters. It enables administrators to split a graphics card into multiple virtual chips and assign each one to a different workload, an arrangement that can boost hardware utilization. An inference autoscaling feature automatically adjust the amount of hardware allocated to an AI application based on the number of prompts it receives. IREN says that Mirantis' technology will enable it to more quickly deploy customer workloads on its infrastructure. The deal will also see the company gain technical support and service delivery know-how along with upselling opportunities. Mirantis has an installed base of more than 1,500 enterpises, many of which use its platform to run AI workloads.

IREN stock rises after Mirantis acquisition announcement By Investing.com

Investing.com -- IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) shares rose 1% Tuesday after the company announced a definitive agreement to acquire Mirantis, Inc., a provider of cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes-based orchestration services. The transaction, valued at approximately $625 million in IREN ordinary shares, is designed to strengthen the company's AI Cloud delivery capabilities as it scales compute deployments for customers. Mirantis serves over 1,500 enterprise customers globally and is a founding Independent Software Vendor partner of the NVIDIA AI Cloud Ready Initiative. The company's k0rdent AI platform manages AI infrastructure across bare metal, virtual machines and Kubernetes environments. The acquisition is expected to enhance IREN's platform in four areas: faster deployment and operation of workloads on existing bare metal GPU infrastructure, improved monitoring and performance visibility, expanded technical support and service delivery capabilities, and broader market access for enterprise AI workloads. Mirantis will operate as a standalone subsidiary, continuing to serve its existing customer base while supporting IREN's AI Cloud deployments. Daniel Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of IREN, commented: "IREN's core advantage is execution -- from securing power to building data centers, deploying GPUs and bringing compute online at scale. Mirantis builds on our existing capabilities and strengthens how that compute is deployed, managed and operated for customers." Alex Freedland, Founder and CEO of Mirantis, said: "IREN brings infrastructure at scale and proven delivery capability. Mirantis adds software and operational expertise that strengthens how customers deploy and use that infrastructure." The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.