Recent Data Center Securitizations: How AI Infrastructure Is Moving Into Capital Markets

The financing model is straightforward in principle. A developer uses equity and construction debt to build the facility. Once the asset is operational, leased and producing predictable cash flow, the stabilized project can support longer-term capital from institutional investors.

That transition is already happening at scale. A 2026 Dentons review of the market estimates annual U.S. data center securitization issuance at more than USD 25 billion, with approximately 20 active issuers. Europe is following, with roughly EUR 2.2 billion of public data center securitizations completed since the first sterling transaction in 2024.

The Basic Capital Cycle

This is one reason securitization matters to rapidly growing AI infrastructure platforms. The operator does not need to keep every mature facility financed with expensive construction capital indefinitely.

Recent Data Center Transactions

Aligned: $1.183 Billion and a 30% Upsize

In July 2026, Aligned Data Centers completed a USD 1.183 billion securitization. The deal was initially targeted at approximately USD 905 million before being increased by roughly 30%.

The collateral consists of four data center campuses serving 14 enterprise customers. Aligned reported that more than 90% of Annualized Adjusted Base Rent was generated by large investment-grade counterparties.

The transaction included Class A-2-I and Class B term notes with five-year anticipated repayment dates. This is a useful example of what securitization investors are buying: not speculative future AI demand, but contracted rents from operating facilities with identifiable counterparties.

Switch Has Turned ABS Into a Repeat Funding Program

Switch provides an even clearer example of securitization becoming part of a permanent capital strategy.

In April 2026, Switch raised approximately USD 768 million through its Series 2026-1 issuance. The transaction added a Reno facility with approximately 1.4 million square feet and more than 52 MW of capacity to the securitized pool.

A year earlier, Switch's October 2025 issuance raised approximately USD 659 million. That securitized platform included ten data centers across four campuses and nearly 500 customers.

Vantage Is Building a European ABS Market

The market is no longer confined to the United States.

In June 2025, Vantage Data Centers raised EUR 640 million in securitized term notes backed by four fully leased data centers in Frankfurt and Berlin.

The transaction also included an additional EUR 80 million of unfunded variable funding notes. The Class A-2 notes were rated A-, while the Class B notes received BBB- ratings from S&P and Scope.

Vantage described the deal as the first euro-denominated securitization of data center assets in Continental Europe.

In January 2026, Vantage returned to the market with another GBP 254 million, consisting of a GBP 200 million tap of existing Class A-2 notes and a new GBP 54 million Class B tranche.

DataBank Created a Separate Hyperscale Master Trust

DataBank raised USD 1.1 billion in September 2025 through a new master trust specifically for hyperscale facilities.

It was DataBank's fifth securitization since 2021 and brought the company's securitized portfolio to approximately USD 3.23 billion of investment-grade bonds. DataBank also described the issuance as its first hyperscale ABS and the first data center ABS dual-rated by S&P and Moody's.

Even Single Hyperscale Facilities Can Be Securitized

Securitization does not always require a nationwide portfolio.

In July 2025, EdgeCore completed a USD 235 million ABS financing backed by its stabilized PH01 data center in Greater Phoenix.

PH01 has 26 MW of IT capacity and is fully leased to a single hyperscale customer. The proceeds refinanced construction loans and provided capital for future development.

Construction Finance Is Scaling at the Same Time

Securitization is only one end of the capital cycle. The front end still requires enormous construction facilities.

Vantage secured a USD 2.25 billion construction financing in 2025 to fully fund its New Albany, Ohio campus. The 70-acre development is planned to contain three pre-leased hyperscale facilities totaling approximately 192 MW and 1.5 million square feet.

In April 2026, EdgeCore completed USD 1.5 billion of construction financings for two fully leased hyperscale facilities in Northern Virginia.

The Collateral Is More Than a Building

A data center securitization looks superficially like real estate financing, but the credit is built around a larger operating system.

S&P's analysis of QTS's 2026 data center revenue notes describes the transaction as being backed primarily by real estate and tenant lease payments for space and electrical capacity across three U.S. data center properties.

Tenant Credit Matters Almost as Much as the Facility

A newly built data center does not automatically create securitizable cash flow.

Institutional investors examine:

This is why fully leased hyperscale assets backed by investment-grade counterparties can migrate from construction finance into a much broader institutional debt market.

Master Trusts Make Repeat Issuance Easier

Several large operators are no longer treating securitization as a one-time refinancing.

They use master trust structures that can accommodate additional data centers, additional series of notes and variable funding facilities as the portfolio grows.

The effect is similar to establishing a permanent capital-markets platform. Once the documentation, servicing structure, reporting framework and investor base exist, additional stabilized assets can potentially be financed through subsequent issuances rather than negotiating an entirely new capital structure for every campus.

Digital Infrastructure ABS Is Broader Than Data Centers

The same capital-markets logic is expanding across fiber and wireless infrastructure.

In February 2026, Vertical Bridge completed a USD 1.94 billion securitization backed by 10,425 tower sites across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

In June 2026, Uniti's Kinetic platform priced USD 1.141 billion of secured fiber network revenue notes, including Class A-2, Class B and Class C tranches.

Fidium has also become a repeat issuer. Its latest transaction raised approximately USD 664.6 million after earlier transactions of USD 1.344 billion and USD 1.283 billion.

The pattern is consistent across data centers, fiber and towers. Contracted infrastructure with measurable recurring revenue can be separated into financing vehicles and funded against those cash flows.

GPU Financing Is the Next Layer

The financing perimeter is now moving inside the data center itself.

In August 2026, Blue Owl led a USD 2.4 billion equipment financing for IREN comprising a USD 1.2 billion senior secured term loan and USD 1.2 billion of senior secured notes.

Proceeds finance NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPU infrastructure at IREN's Mackenzie campus in British Columbia.

Lambda separately completed a USD 926 million senior secured Term Loan B for GPU infrastructure supporting a committed deployment with an investment-grade customer.

The SEC Gave the U.S. Market Important Clarification in 2026

On July 29, 2026, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued interpretive guidance concerning certain data center securitizations.

Based on the specific facts presented by Latham & Watkins, SEC staff agreed that fixed-income securities issued in the described structures were not asset-backed securities within the definition in Section 3(a)(79) of the Exchange Act.

The guidance is fact-specific and is not an SEC rule. However, Latham noted that the clarification removes uncertainty that had caused market participants to voluntarily comply with certain ABS requirements. This could reduce execution friction as issuance grows.

Why Developers Care

Securitization gives a data center platform access to a different pool of capital from relationship banks and private infrastructure funds.

What Does Not Securitize Well

The existence of an AI data center does not guarantee access to the ABS market.

Problems arise when the project still has:

These exposures generally belong in development equity, construction lending, private credit or sponsor support until the project reaches a more predictable operating state.

The Financing Stack Is Becoming Specialized

The biggest change in AI infrastructure finance is not simply that more capital is available. Different pools of capital are increasingly financing different risks.

For developers, that creates a financing strategy rather than a single financing event. Construction capital gets the project built. Securitization refinances mature assets. The balance sheet is then available to build again.

This material is provided for general informational purposes. Securitization eligibility, ratings, leverage, collateral structure and financing terms depend on the relevant assets, contracts, counterparties, jurisdiction and market conditions. Financely is not a bank, rating agency, broker-dealer or direct lender.