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A data centre campus backed by Meta is seeking $3bn in construction loans for an off-grid project with novel financing in which lenders fund both the building and the power assets in one transaction.
The debt package involves a first-of-its-kind agreement for a data centre that would generate its own power on site with natural gas supplies, according to people familiar with the matter.
Combining data centre and power financing simplified the debt-raising process but increased the risk of project delays, the people said.
“It’s more complicated,” according to a person familiar with the deal. “Like you’re underwriting two very different types of assets at once.”
The campus, known as “Project Walleye”, was named after the freshwater fish commonly found in Ohio, where the data centre is located, the people familiar said. Big Tech companies typically assign code names to projects to ensure confidentiality.
EdgeConneX, a data centre operator acquired by private equity firm EQT, will run the New Albany, Ohio campus.
Meta and EQT declined to comment. EdgeConneX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The loans have been pitched to potential investors at 2.5 percentage points above the secured overnight financing rate, slightly higher than other projects backed by Big Tech companies, due to additional risks.
“[Project Walleye] needs to pay more to compensate for the project-on-project risks,” said an investor who was pitched on the debt.
Still, some investors are attracted to the deal because of EdgeConneX’s record of delivering large-scale projects, as well as the strong backing from EQT. Its other clients include Nvidia, Google and Oracle.
“We are comfortable because [EdgeConneX] has the experience and the expertise,” a second investor said.
The debt is currently being syndicated to project finance banks and large institutional investors, and is expected to close in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.
It was also expected to receive a private investment-grade rating thanks to the leasing agreement with Meta, allowing the debt to be sold on to a broader group of investors, the people said.
Tech companies building vast data centres are increasingly adopting so-called behind-the-metre power to avoid delays in grid connection, which is increasingly difficult to secure due to surging growth in AI-driven power demand.
Google is also planning to provide financial support to a multibillion-dollar data centre leased to Anthropic in Texas, where the campus will be powered by its own gas turbines, the FT previously reported.
Project Walleye would operate on “island mode”, people familiar added, where the data centre will have its own microgrid and run independently from the main power grid in the first few years. It might ultimately seek grid connection when it is available, they said.