BlackRock raising $12 billion in bonds for Meta Texas data center

BlackRock is arranging more than $12 billion in bonds to finance a Meta Platforms data center campus in El Paso, Texas, highlighting the continued reliance on private credit and debt markets to fund AI infrastructure. The project is structured through a holding company tied to BlackRock’s 80% stake in Project Sopaipilla Holdings, with Meta holding the remaining 20%. JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are managing the offering, which is expected to be priced next week. The campus is planned to reach about 1 gigawatt of capacity and open in 2028, creating more than 300 on-site jobs. The transaction mirrors Meta’s earlier off-balance-sheet financing approach in Louisiana and adds to a broader surge in AI-related borrowing, underscoring how capital-intensive AI expansion is becoming for big tech and financing firms alike.