April 24 : Data center developer Related Digital said on Friday it has secured financing for a $16 billion data center campus it is building in Michigan for Oracle.
• The financing includes equity from Related Digital and funds affiliated with Blackstone, as well as fixed-rate, long-term debt financing anchored by PIMCO-managed funds and accounts, the company said.
• PIMCO bought about $10 billion of the bonds that priced Friday, while other investors bought the remainder of the debt, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar. PIMCO declined to comment to Reuters.
• OpenAI, Oracle and Related Digital in October announced the project of more than 1 gigawatt data center in Saline Township, Michigan, as part of their push to expand U.S. AI infrastructure capacity. Construction started in February.
• Big Tech companies have been pouring billions into building AI infrastructure. Alphabet, Amazon and Meta will collectively invest about $650 billion to scale up AI-related infrastructure this year, according to Bridgewater Associates.
• Bank of America, which was structuring agent and financial advisor in the deal, sold $14 billion of bonds, while Blackstone’s equity contribution was at around $2 billion, Bloomberg News said.