3M expands Amazon data centre partnership, issues US$521m warrant

3M has expanded its commercial relationship with Amazon and issued a warrant to an Amazon subsidiary allowing it to buy 3M shares worth over US$521 million. Shares of 3M rose more than 5 per cent in extended trading after the announcement.

Industrial conglomerate 3M said on Monday it was expanding its commercial relationship with Amazon and had issued a warrant to an Amazon subsidiary, allowing it the right to buy 3M common stock worth over US$521 million.

Shares of 3M were up more than 5 per cent in extended trading after the announcement.

3M said it has issued a warrant to a wholly owned Amazon subsidiary, giving it the right to purchase up to 3.16 million 3M shares over the next seven years at US$164.89 per share.

The agreement expands 3M's commercial relationship with the e-commerce major at a time major technology companies are increasing spending on data-centre infrastructure to support AI and cloud-computing growth.

3M said about 85 per cent of the warrant shares will become available as Amazon buys optical connectivity and other data-centre products from 3M, with that portion becoming fully vested once total purchases hit US$6 billion. The remaining 15 per cent of the shares will vest once certain milestone-based conditions are met.

In July, Microsoft became the first hyperscaler to adopt 3M's Expanded Beam Optics technology in AI data centres.