- Banks are delaying plans to offload part of a roughly $15 billion loan for an Anthropic-leased data center in Hubbard, near Waco, Texas, after the state put a hold on new projects while it assesses risks to its power grid.
- The lenders had hoped to sell $5 billion to $7 billion of high-yield bonds in September to refinance part of the loan, and those sales may now be staggered over the next year, leaving the debt on bank balance sheets longer than planned.
- The package includes a funded $14.2 billion one-year loan from Citigroup, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, MUFG, Royal Bank of Canada and Santander, with each committing about $2 billion, plus a $1.4 billion five-year revolver. The bonds had received ratings in the mid-BB area.
- Credit markets are already strained by AI supply. The average risk premium on US high-yield bonds climbed to a 17-month high this month, and primary markets have seen a spate of pulled deals in recent weeks.
What Happened?
Nexus Data Centers is developing the project, which is leased to Anthropic and backed by Alphabet’s Google, according to Bloomberg. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the moratorium will stay in place until the state completes its review. Some banks in the group, including Santander, are trying to bring other lenders into the deal. Representatives for Anthropic, Google, Citi, Santander and MUFG declined to comment.
Why It Matters?
This is a concrete example of the AI build-out running into both political and financial limits. Data centers have become a midterm election issue over rising electricity bills and strains on power and water, and when banks cannot move bridge loans into the bond market, they have less room to fund the next project. That matters for the private credit and high-yield investors who have been absorbing a growing share of AI infrastructure debt.
What’s Next?
Watch how long the Texas moratorium lasts and whether other states follow, as well as whether the banks bring in more lenders or price the bonds at wider spreads. The episode lands as Anthropic prepares its IPO, so any financing friction around its compute capacity will draw investor attention.
Affected Tickers and Coins: MS, C, GOOGL, HYG, JNK
Source: Bloomberg
