Z Squared to Finalize Paradox Data Buy in Up-to-$25 Million Deal
The definitive agreement ties 80% of the consideration to power-delivery milestones at Z Squared's Union County Campus, extending the milestone-gated acquisition structure that has defined its Phase 1 buildout.
Z Squared Inc. (ZSQR) agreed to acquire Paradox Data, LLC in a deal valued at up to $25 million, converting the binding letter of intent the companies signed in June into a definitive agreement. The transaction is expected to close within 30 days of signing, subject to customary conditions, with an outside date of September 30, 2026, that can be extended to December 31, 2026, under specified circumstances.
The deal's structure was not disclosed in full, but the consideration is heavily back-loaded. Eighty percent of the total purchase price is earned only as the Union County Campus in El Dorado, Arkansas hits defined execution milestones—first capacity requested, then capacity energized alongside a tenant. That mechanism mirrors the milestone-gated preferred-stock structure Z Squared used in its original letter of intent for Paradox, which paired an $18 million base consideration with additional payments tied to secured megawatts.
"This is 'scale with discipline' in contract form," said David Halabu, Chief Executive Officer of Z Squared. "Eighty percent of the total consideration is earned only as the Union County Campus achieves defined execution milestones: capacity requested, then capacity energized alongside a tenant. This deal structure keeps our acquisition currency aligned with execution and continues to keep our balance sheet completely debt free".
The acquisition advances Z Squared's Phase 1 objective of developing 100 megawatts of AI-ready capacity across multiple U.S. sites, with the Union County Campus alone targeted to reach up to 150 MW of AI-ready capacity over time. The site already carries an 8 MW live on-grid utility connection from Entergy Arkansas, and the company's plan calls for pairing that connection with behind-the-meter natural gas generation fed by pipelines capable of supporting more than 150 MW of on-site power.
Paradox brings more than land and power to the deal. Its immersion-cooling technology and campus-scale development experience, led by founder and now Z Squared Chief Technology Officer Jeffrey Harris, target the high-density compute requirements of AI workloads at a time when grid interconnection queues have stretched to three-to-five years in much of the country. The Union County Campus's roughly 170 acres of M-1 zoned land, rail access, and fiber connectivity round out a site profile aimed at NeoCloud and AI infrastructure operators seeking capacity faster than greenfield development allows.
The Paradox transaction follows a similar pattern set by Z Squared's April letter of intent to acquire Skycore Digital, which added roughly 24 MW of energized capacity in North Carolina for up to $22 million in Series B convertible preferred stock, again with no cash and no debt. Both deals reflect the acquire-and-convert model the company outlined in May, which prioritizes operating sites with power already flowing over multi-year greenfield builds.
Z Squared has funded the buildout without adding leverage, drawing on a $50 million committed equity forward purchase agreement and roughly $15.3 million raised through its standby equity purchase agreement in June, while maintaining what it describes as a virtually debt-free balance sheet. The Paradox agreement's milestone structure extends that approach to the acquisition currency itself, tying payout to power delivered rather than power promised.