Vantage raises £600m in first European data centre securitisation

Vantage Data Centers has raised £600m in the first securitisation of data centre assets in EMEA.  The transaction includes an additional £100m in unfunded variable funding notes. The term notes are rated A-, A (low) and A by Standard & Poor’s, Morningstar DBRS and Scope Ratings, respectively, and have an anticipated five-year repayment date. Led by Barclays and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Nikko Capital Markets, the notes will be used to refinance £480m of debt for two facilities on Vantage’s 148MW Cardiff campus. Excess proceeds will be used for capital expenses and general corporate purposes, said Vantage.  “Vantage’s pursuit of innovative funding vehicles to drive the company’s continued global development is core to our ability to rapidly meet demand for the critical infrastructure necessary to support cloud adoption and AI,” said Sharif Metwalli, chief financial officer at Vantage.  “We are proud to continue our pioneering use of securitisation financing in the data centre sector, specifically in Europe, and look forward to our ongoing development of flexible, sustainable digital infrastructure around the globe to enable the growth of our customers.” Gordon Beck, head of European corporate and sustainable securitisation at Barclays, said the new debt would help “unlock a new source of capital for the asset class in Europe”. To date this year, Vantage has raised $1.7bn (£1.3bn) in debt financing for its EMEA platform. Photo by yucelyilmaz/iStock