US holding company Royalty Management Holding Corporation (RMCO) is moving into data centers.

The publicly-listed firm recently announced that it has restructured an existing subsidiary to create a new operating company called the Vault Holding Corporation to focus on data centers.

The Vault will invest in data center, artificial intelligence (AI), and alternative currency mining space on behalf of its parent company.

“With this sector as a key focus of RMCO and investment capital deployment, the company made the decision to target this expansion in a more focused way with the creation of a company with a specific purpose of deploying capital to projects and equipment,” RMCO said.

Nasdaq-listed RMCO is a royalty company focused on “acquiring and developing high value assets” in a variety of markets.

The Vault will focus on generating revenue and income through mining activities at its controlled sites. RMCO said the Vault has “multiple sites it is incubating and developing that possess economically attractive, long-term electricity rates and existing infrastructure, with the goal of expediting return on capital to its investors.”

“The creation of the Vault is on the heels of a recent study we performed with ScoutCities that has successfully identified several sites within the company’s portfolio of owned or controlled properties that have exhibited attractive characteristics of being used for data centers, AI, and other electricity-dominant industries, such as mining for alternative currencies,” said RMCO founder and CEO Thomas Sauve.

“These site characteristics include, among other factors, favorable electricity rates in the range of mid to high four cents per kilowatt hour with datacenter-friendly utility providers, access to local fiber optic infrastructure for communication and internet, and expandable site footprints.”

Sauve continued: “As the investment thesis around this core company theme solidified and became clearer, it made perfect sense to consolidate RMCO’s interests and investments in building out our assets in the datacenter, AI, and alternative currencies space within one company that can provide a focused vehicle for growth and monetization in this sector. The Vault will stand as our platform for investing in equipment, properties, and infrastructure in this space, and we look forward to meaningful value creation for RMCO starting almost immediately.”

The Vault will lease assets, such as real estate, buildings, infrastructure, and electrical rate contracts, to third parties that will build and deploy data centers and related infrastructure. The firm will deploy its own servers and equipment at these sites through new equipment purchases and site investment to generate income.

The Vault will also acquire and invest in other properties and assets within this sector, including those that manufacture data center and AI equipment.

RMCO said the new unit will look to invest in this sector through a combination of cash flow investment, strategic partners, and utilizing its own registered securities.

Founded in 2021 and formerly known as Royalty Management Co., the firm went public in 2023 after a SPAC merger with American Acquisition Opportunity Inc.

Royalty Management has access to more than 5,000 acres of developable land for a variety of industrial and commercial purposes. It focused on acquiring assets and rights for mining various materials; water, agriculture, and regenerative timbering assets; and IP around blockchain technologies.

In January, the firm said it was expanding its market outreach and negotiations with clients and partners that were looking for opportunities to secure real estate with inexpensive electrical power and high-capacity electrical infrastructure for AI, data center, and cryptomine clients. At the time, RMHO said it had worked to secure suitable land in Kentucky and Indiana and was actively seeking partners and lessees.

US IT managed services firm OneNeck was previously known as the Vault, and operates a data center in Bend, Oregon.