BlackRock Raises $12.5 Billion in Debt for Meta’s Texas AI Data Center

BlackRock has completed a $12.5 billion bond sale to finance a massive Meta Platforms data center campus in El Paso, Texas, marking one of the largest single-project debt offerings tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure. The transaction underscores both the scale of capital required for AI workloads and the growing scrutiny on whether such investments will deliver returns.

The 2048 note priced at a yield premium of 2.875 percentage points over 10-year Treasury yields, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The final deal size ended up about $273 million larger than initially expected when it launched, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.

The pricing matched initial discussions, making it a rare instance of an investment-grade bond deal that did not tighten during syndication. Despite a lackluster reception last week, the bonds rallied in early trading on Monday (July 27), indicating that investor demand strengthened after the initial cool response.

Investor appetite for financing AI infrastructure has softened in the U.S. high-grade debt market amid a glut of jumbo offerings and rising concerns over whether massive data center investments will pay off. The new notes, issued by a BlackRock-affiliated special-purpose vehicle named Sopaipilla Investor, drew up to $20 billion in orders—roughly 1.6 times the amount for sale. Borrowers typically aim for demand several times the offering size to secure optimal pricing.

Proceeds will fund a data center campus in El Paso expected to provide as much as one gigawatt of computing capacity for AI workloads. BlackRock subsidiaries Global Infrastructure Management and HPS Investment Partners hold an 80% stake in the project, while Meta owns the remaining 20%. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley managed the debt offering.

The bond sold at a yield premium relative to where the Beignet notes—issued in October to finance another Meta data center in Louisiana—currently trade. The Sopaipilla transaction, named after a fried pastry popular in the southwestern U.S., is structured like project finance debt: it is issued by a special-purpose vehicle, principal is repaid gradually over time, and obligations are backed by Meta’s lease commitments. This off-balance-sheet structure allows Meta to raise capital without inflating its borrowing metrics, while investors gain comfort from Meta’s backing through the data center lease.