Blackstone NYSE:BX, the owner of data center operator AirTrunk, is finalizing a group of banks to underwrite a A$4.3 billion, or roughly $3 billion, construction loan for AirTrunk's new SYD3 hyperscale data center in Australia, according to people familiar with the matter. The five-year financing is expected to include Credit Agricole, DBS Group Holdings, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, ING Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Morgan Stanley and United Overseas Bank, while additional lenders may still join the underwriting group. The planned loan suggests that major financial institutions remain willing to support large data center developments even as concerns grow over the amount of debt being raised for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The financing arrives during a sharp increase in borrowing across the AI infrastructure market, with at least $334.5 billion of bonds and loans issued so far this year, compared with $185.5 billion during all of 2025, according to Bloomberg data. Data centers in the Asia-Pacific region have traditionally relied on bank financing, but lenders are gradually moving closer to their internal exposure limits after committing billions of dollars to these projects. Strong demand for capital is also pushing borrowing costs higher, which could place additional pressure on data center operators as they continue funding large-scale expansion.
Despite these rising financing risks, deal activity across the region remains active. AirTrunk is also completing an approximately $2.3 billion loan for a data center project in Johor, Malaysia, while NextDC (NXDCF), an Australian-listed company raising debt for data center development, has increased its senior debt facilities to A$2.3 billion from A$1.8 billion. Investors may view the latest transactions as evidence that capital remains available for major AI infrastructure projects, although higher borrowing costs, growing lender exposure and the accelerating volume of debt could become increasingly important considerations for the sector.