Updated October 2026
For sale-process bankers: AI data buyers to add to the buyer list
If you are building the buyer list for a distressed sale, it has usually meant strategics, sponsors and liquidators. Spirit Airlines added a fourth group: AI data buyers. Three of them chased the airline's internal archive in its Chapter 11 case, and the gap between their numbers says a lot about how these buyers price.1,2
The Spirit book
Who bid, and how far apart they were
Google opened at $5.0M and closed as successful bidder at $10.0M cash, double its first number. Mercor's alternate bid of $7.5M is 75% of Google's price. Neither has closed: the sale was still unapproved in mid-October 2026, and the court has the hearing down for 2026-11-06.1,3
Mercor's path is the instructive one for a banker. On Google's form, with a third party stripping out personal details, it bid $5.2M; using its own tools it bid $7.0M; it then offered $10.0M if it could do that work in-house. Same archive, three prices, driven by one variable: who scrubs the data.4
After the auction, micro1 filed a notice of intent at $12.5M in cash from cash on hand, with no financing contingency. Its filing puts that at $2.5M (25%) above Google and $5M above Mercor. The court had not ruled on it as of mid-October 2026.2
| Fact | Value and source |
|---|---|
| Spirit data auction | Virtual auction of about two and a half hours on 2026-08-14, run by Davis Polk and PJT Partners. Google opened at $5.0M and won at $10.0M cash; Mercor is the alternate bidder at $7.5M |
| Mercor's bids at the Spirit auction | Mercor bid $5.2M (Google's form, third-party de-identification) or $7.0M (its own tools), then offered $10.0M conditioned on in-house de-identification. Google's $10.0M was chosen; Mercor's $7.5M stands as the alternate |
| micro1's notice of intent | micro1 filed a notice of intent on 2026-09-03 (Dkt. 1556): $12.5M cash from cash on hand, no financing contingency, $2.5M (25%) above Google's successful bid and $5M above Mercor's alternate bid |
Names for the list
Data buyers with published terms
Published ranges mostly run $100K to $2M, as the buyers' own claims. Most buyers charge the seller nothing, while brokers and marketplaces can take 8-30%. Payment usually lands around 3-6 weeks after signing, sometimes longer.5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17
The buyers we work with take operating, winding-down and closed companies, and most want 20 or more full-time staff with a few years of records. Some buy an agreed copy outright, and some work from read-only access to only the sources the seller approves.18,19,20,21
For smaller estates, SimpleClosure's AssetHub is a marketplace rather than a single buyer. SimpleClosure says its buyers are AI labs, companies that build AI training environments and other technology companies.22
| Fact | Value and source |
|---|---|
| License price range | $100K-$2M+ per data package; over $1M for unique data |
| Time to offer and payment | Offer 1-2 weeks after intake; paid Net 30-60 |
| Pewter: who qualifies | US firms with 20+ full-time staff now or at peak, 3+ years of records, working mainly in English; operating, downsizing, winding down or closed |
| How Mode buys | Buys an agreed copy of the records directly, charges no broker fee, and resells the filtered copy for AI research and training; the company keeps its originals |
Running the process
Bids are price plus a privacy plan
A declaration filed after Spirit's auction said the way personal details are stripped out, and other privacy factors, may decide the outcome. The ombudsman later said that if the court looks at Mercor she wants to examine its 2026 security incident, and for micro1 she wants to review its plan to strip personal details itself instead of using an independent party.23,24
So ask every data bidder up front who strips out personal details, who checks the work, and where the data sits. Those answers can change which bid wins as much as the headline number.4
When to call them
Which mandates justify a data tranche
Size and history drive interest. Sunset, a wind-down buyer, values a company by headcount, years in operation, data volume and how the team used its tools. SimpleClosure's 150+ deals, typically $10K-$100K each, show where most smaller archives land.25,26
Timing belongs in the engagement letter's workplan too. SimpleClosure's guide says asset value erodes quickly during a shutdown and recommends starting inventory and buyer outreach alongside the dissolution filings, when buyer leverage is usually strongest. For a banker, that argues for adding data buyers to the first round of calls rather than a later sweep.27
FAQ
Questions, answered with sources
micro1 says $100K-$2M+ for a company's data, and over $1M for unique data.5
SimpleClosure lists AI labs, companies that build AI training environments and other technology companies.22
Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.
Before you sign
Questions to talk through with your buyer
Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.
Questions for this kind of business
- Can the data be marketed in the same process as the operating assets, or does it need separate bidding procedures?
- Who approves choosing a lower bid where an independent party strips out personal details?
- What are the trustee's, assignee's, receiver's or board's duties, and who receives the proceeds?
Questions for any buyer
- Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
- Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
- Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
- How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
- What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
- Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
- Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?