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Edition No. 70
In this week’s issue:
First, Oracle’s force majeure notice. Oracle reportedly told Blue Owl that power delays at Project Jupiter count as force majeure, per Bloomberg. Five days earlier, the Financial Times reported the campus’s ~$18 billion of loans quoted at 89 to 91 cents. When power arrives late, who carries the cost?
Then, the money kept moving. VIRTUS closed £2.45 billion with 13 banks. BlackRock-backed AIP and IFM are reportedly in talks for Stack's Asia-Pacific platform at ~$25 billion.
Finally, the listing and the land. Nscale filed for a NYSE listing with $103.4 billion of contract value. Tera Data Centers agreed to pay RM1.01 billion for land in Malaysia.
Let us get into it.
The ~$18 billion loan and the 9% construction rent
The lenders carry it first, and they started pricing it before the notice landed. The tenant’s credit only protects them once the power is on.
Oracle reportedly sent the notice to Blue Owl over power delays at Project Jupiter, a 1,400-acre campus in New Mexico. Bloomberg, citing an unnamed source, reports ~$18 billion of bank loans and ~$3 billion of Blue Owl equity behind it.
Oracle isn’t walking away. It is reportedly using the clause to stretch the construction-stage rent, which pays ~9%, before the ~11% completion yield starts. Oracle says Jupiter “remains on our planned schedule.” Blue Owl says its financial commitments are unchanged.
So the lease holds. The timing doesn’t. If you lend into a build-to-suit campus, read the force majeure clause before you read the tenant’s rating. Ask who owns power delivery, and what rent you collect while it’s late.
The structure behind the ~$18 billion, and why the banks moved before Oracle did, are in The Mechanism below.
THIS WEEK BY REGION
The week’s biggest moves — what happened and what it signals.
North America
Power delivery is now a credit risk, and developers are building their own supply lines. Woodway Energy Infrastructure, backed by Macquarie Capital, signed definitive agreements for a 22-mile, 30-inch gas pipeline. It will feed an undisclosed hyperscale campus behind the meter, with service targeted for the first half of 2028.
The bond market is charging for the wait. A Blue Owl-backed campus near Richmond leased to CoreWeave sold $1.1 billion of five-year bonds at 9.25%. The campus won’t run until 2027 or 2028.
Data center operators without a firm power date: your lenders now price that gap directly. Own the supply line, or expect to pay for someone else’s delay.
Europe
European banks are still writing large development cheques. VIRTUS Data Centres closed a £2.45 billion package with 13 banks led by BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Société Générale, and Standard Chartered. It includes a £1.2 billion green capex facility.
The money funds Saunderton, a 78MW campus in Buckinghamshire, plus 32.5MW at LONDON19 in Slough and a 300MW campus at Wustermark near Berlin. In Madrid, Nabiax broke ground on ADC3, a €800 million, 100MW build phased through 2029.
If you’re a real estate investor watching US debt get repriced, Europe’s bank market is the cheaper door right now. Ask how long it stays open.
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific drew core capital and GPU tenants in the same week. Blue Owl is reportedly in exclusive talks to sell Stack’s Asia-Pacific data centers to BlackRock-backed AIP and IFM Investors for ~$25 billion, per Bloomberg. The portfolio spans Tokyo, Osaka, Sydney, and Melbourne.
In Western Sydney, GreenSquareDC signed Sharon AI as the first customer at SYD1. Sharon AI plans to deploy about 8,200 Nvidia Blackwell Ultra GPUs, with operations targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.
For PE and infrastructure funds, watch the Stack price against earlier reports above $30 billion. The gap is what core buyers now charge a seller who needs capital back.
Below this line, every Sunday: The Mechanism, the structure behind the week’s anchor and where else it ran this week. Then Notable Transactions, two to four structures from the week’s deal tape, broken down.
THE MECHANISM
Who pays while the power is late
Project Jupiter runs on a build-to-suit lease. Blue Owl owns the campus through Stack, and Oracle is the tenant. The FT names Santander and Jefferies among the banks that arranged the ~$18 billion of loans late in 2025. During construction, Oracle reportedly covers the debt costs.
The step-up to full rent is the pressure point. Under the contract, Oracle is responsible for power, per Bloomberg. Until the power arrives, Blue Owl sits on the lower construction-stage return. Force majeure reportedly lets Oracle hold it there longer.
The delay has two causes on the record. The Energy Transfer gas pipeline has slipped about six months to February 1, 2027. New Mexico still owes an air-quality permit decision on the fuel cells by November 23.
The banks moved first. On September 19, the Financial Times reported the loans quoted at 89 to 91 cents on the dollar. Syndication had stalled, and the arrangers were holding more than they planned. S&P had already cut Oracle to one notch above junk in July.
So the lease was the credit, and the clause decides when that credit starts paying. Until then, the gap sits with the lenders and Blue Owl.
I’d press the arrangers on one term: whether debt service during a force majeure period is Oracle’s cost or the project’s. The public reporting doesn’t say. I’m watching November 23, when New Mexico rules on the Jupiter air permit.
NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS
Key structures and capital moves from this week’s deal tape.
Nscale: NYSE IPO Filing With $103.4 Billion of Contract Value
Nscale filed to list under the ticker NSCL, with first-half 2026 revenue of $140.6 million and a $1.02 billion net loss. At least $3.1 billion of convertible notes, with Nvidia participating, funds the build while public buyers price the contract book.
If you invest in public equities, the mechanism is backlog-funded growth. Check how much of the $103.4 billion is contracted and how much is still in the active pipeline.
Tera Data Centers: RM1.01 Billion Land Deal in Negeri Sembilan
Singapore-based Tera signed a conditional deal for 221.7 acres at Malaysia Vision Valley 2.0, sold by Eco World, SD Guthrie, and state-linked NS Corp. No capacity or tenant was disclosed, so this is land bought ahead of power and customers.
If you finance emerging market platforms, the mechanism is a conditional land bank. Ask which conditions must be cleared before the RM1.01 billion is paid.
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Have a great week.
— Obinna
This is a great illustration of how the behind-the-meter strategy helps speed-to-power but doesn't solve everything. It hit Bloom's stock price for a day, but then it bounced back - and then some. Have you seen other examples where permitting has frustrated BTM? How does that compare to the grid/transmission delays it is meant to avoid?
It hit Bloom’s stock too - for a day. Announcements have outsized impact in a market where the narrative is stretched this thin.