EL7.AI
BondsMedium•6 November 2026•
4 min read

ING Offers Data Center Loan Portfolio Worth About $500 Million for Sale

Key Facts

1ING is offering a data center loan portfolio worth about $500 million for sale.
2The portfolio comprises 12 loans, with bids due November 19 and a minimum bid size of $10 million.
3The portfolio includes a $25 million loan tranche for a site linked to the Stargate project in New Mexico.
4More than half of data centers’ external financing needs during 2026–2028 could come from debt.

Dutch banking group ING is offering for sale a data center loan portfolio worth about $500 million, according to a Bloomberg report cited by The Edge Singapore on November 6, which quoted people familiar with the matter. The portfolio comprises 12 loans being offered as a single package through a competitive process, the report said. Bids are due November 19, with a minimum bid size of $10 million. The loans include debt linked to data center operators Vantage Data Centers and CyrusOne. An ING spokesperson declined to comment, according to the report.

One of the loans on offer is a $25 million tranche financing a large data center site in New Mexico. The site is linked to the Stargate project involving OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle, the report said. It added that Oracle had sent the developer a notice citing force majeure. That places financing for a specific project in the sale portfolio alongside debt linked to other operators. The report gave no further details on the loan terms or the notice’s effect on the site.

The potential deal comes amid expanding financing for AI infrastructure and growing reliance on borrowing. In its July Financial Stability Report, the Bank of England said more than half of data centers’ external financing needs during 2026–2028 could come from debt, citing an estimate by Morgan Stanley. The report pointed to accelerating use of leverage, structured finance and private credit to fund AI companies. AI issuers also accounted for 41% of U.S. high-yield bond issuance unrelated to refinancing since the start of 2026, even though they represented just 1% of JPMorgan’s high-yield bond index at the end of 2025. The gap reflects the expanding role of debt instruments in funding the sector relative to its previous share of the high-yield bond market.

The Bank of England warned that the sustainability of debt service over the medium term depends on revenue expectations and financing terms. It said declining free cash flows at major AI companies increase their reliance on favorable refinancing conditions. It added that financing long-lived assets with debt whose economic life is shorter could create a maturity mismatch and expose collateral values to risk. So far, debt issued to finance AI investment has had maturities exceeding 10 years, according to the report. These risks highlight the importance of borrowing terms and cash flow timing in assessing debt-service capacity, alongside the amount of financing available.

Local political and regulatory constraints are another factor that could delay some projects and put pressure on their loans or bonds. An October 31 Axios report said the results of 10 U.S. gubernatorial elections would help determine the rules governing 67.4 gigawatts of planned data centers, within $2.5 trillion in AI infrastructure investment. Texas accounts for 25% of planned construction, while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa supports a temporary halt on new centers until stricter rules are established, Axios reported. The report cited the risk that new restrictions on a project that has not begun construction could delay it and put its loans or bonds at risk. In New York, an executive order suspending environmental permits for larger facilities delayed nearly a gigawatt of capacity, according to the report, citing SemiAnalysis.

Local opposition has not halted overall expansion so far, Axios said, pointing to more than 300 local pause decisions in the United States. The report cited SemiAnalysis as forecasting more than 50 gigawatts of capacity additions in 2027, and said construction on nearly half of that capacity was already at an advanced stage. Developers have also signed leases worth $1 trillion to support the expansion, according to the report. In markets, a November 5 Reuters report said the Nasdaq had fallen 10% from its record close as investors grew more concerned about AI spending and scrutiny of data center expansion. ING’s loan bids are due November 19; the report gave no expected outcome for the process or said whether the portfolio would be sold.