Oaktree-backed Pure DC lines up USD 1.9 bn financing framework, adding FAB to its lenders

Pure DC landed a USD 1.9 bn credit line, and FAB is among the new lenders: Oaktree Capital Management-backed Pure Data Centers Group (Pure DC) secured a financing framework of about USD 1.9 bn to fund its build-out across Europe and the Middle East, according to a statement. The funding includes a USD 780 mn Platform Growth Facility and a USD 1.1 bn accordion that lets the company expand borrowing. Citigroup Global Markets, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), and Infranity join existing lenders ABN Amro, Allianz Global Investors, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The money will be allocated to land and power for future campuses: Pure DC will use the facility to support its development pipeline and buy future sites. The money will also go toward securing energy for new data centers, Executive Chairman and interim CEO Gary Wojtaszek told Bloomberg. The London-based developer is targeting 3 GW of total capacity. It works with energy companies on more integrated power supplies, including on-site generation at its Dublin campus.

Banks over bonds: Pure DC tried to raise financing in the bond market earlier this year, then dropped the plan when traditional lenders offered more favorable terms. Financing for large AI campuses has become more expensive and lenders more selective, as investors grow concerned about the debt flowing into AI infrastructure.

Pure DC raised more than USD 6.2 bn in a year. Its earlier rounds include USD 2.7 bn in May. Of that, USD 2.15 bn was backed by its Dublin and Amsterdam campuses. In July, it added EUR 1.3 bn in senior debt for the first phase of its Seinäjoki AI campus in Finland. That 110 MW phase is fully leased, and the site can scale beyond 550 MW. Microsoft is among the campus’s customers, Bloomberg reports.

The Gulf is both a market and a lender: The developer operates a 20 MW building on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, where the campus can grow to 48 MW. In Riyadh, it has a joint venture with Dune Vaults on a campus designed for an initial 57.6 MW and able to exceed 100 MW. FAB, the only Gulf lender in the new group, also backed the USD 2.6 bn, 10-year facility for G42-owned Khazna Data Centers last year, alongside ADCB.

The new debt is meant to make an equity raise easier: Wojtaszek expects the new debt to make it easier to raise equity by validating the company’s business model. “People are just recognizing how the value associated with controlling the real estate and doing development is much safer than what some of the other investment alternatives are,” he told Bloomberg.