Dutch bank ING is reportedly looking for a buyer for about $500M of data center loans, an unusual move amid fears that Democratic gains in the US midterm elections could hurt data center projects across the country.
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The bank accepted bids for 12 loans through a process known as competitive bidding, Bloomberg reports. Debt deals will take place this month, with individual deals having to exceed $10M.
Loans offered include the $25M Project Jupiter, a 1,400-acre New Mexico campus developed by Blue Owl-backed Stack Infrastructure for OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank’s Stargate initiative. The potential project of 2.45 gigawatts has faced concerns about possible delays before ING began marketing this loan – in September, Oracle sent a notice of force majeure that will allow it to delay payments if the project is delayed or derailed.
ING is also reportedly interested in selling debt related to data centers developed by major operators like Vantage and CyrusOne. The Dutch lender is an important player in data center financing, having participated in more than 200 deals worldwide.
The auction is reported to be the first to involve a portfolio created specifically for data center debt, and comes as global markets reassess the risks surrounding US data center development after the midterms.
Democrats won gubernatorial races in states such as Texas, Georgia and Pennsylvania where data centers were a major campaign issue. According to market research firm Cleanview, about 40% of planned data center capacity in the US is in states where newly elected governors have called for a pause in data center construction.
The shifting political winds also extend to Washington, DC, where Democrats control both chambers of Congress and industry leaders are advocating for more aggressive oversight and new restrictions on a sector that has struggled to build quickly enough to meet demand.
Wall Street has reacted accordingly. The Nasdaq 100 fell 6.4% on Thursday, its worst day since 2020, as investors sold stocks linked to the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. The index gained back about 1.5% on Friday.
The bond market also saw a big drop in the price of structured debt tied to AI infrastructure companies like CoreWeave and Galaxy Digital.