EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a wholesale data center developer, owner and operator, completed a $1.9 billion debt financing transaction to fund scalable development on its data center campus in Mesa, Arizona. This transaction provides a template for several planned financings across the EdgeCore portfolio and was conducted in conjunction with its owner, Partners Group, a leading global private market firm acting on behalf of its clients.
EdgeCore's $1.9 billion debt financing is comprised of a limited-recourse senior secured term loan, a revolving senior secured letter of credit facility, and an accordion feature that will fund future development. The transaction was led by a consortium of coordinating lead arrangers including MUFG, TD Securities, ING Capital LLC, Scotia Bank, and Santander. MUFG served as administrative agent. Davis Polk Watson served as borrower's/sponsor's counsel, and Milbank served as underwriters' counsel.
At full build-out, EdgeCore's LEED-designed, water-neutral campus in Mesa will be capable of supporting a minimum of 450 MW of critical load and will be engineered to meet current and future customer requirements across 3.1+ million square feet of space. The campus currently has one operational data center and two additional data centers under construction totaling 206 MW of critical load capacity.
"The development of scalable data center campuses designed to support the density requirements of hyperscalers is EdgeCore's sole focus, and one that we address with sustainable construction, operations and business practices in mind," said Julie Brewer, SVP of Finance, EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure. "To this end, our Phoenix data center campus in Mesa, AZ is being developed using debt financing from this Green Loan."
Temperature regulation at EdgeCore's campus in Mesa utilizes an air-cooled design with an ultra-efficient closed-loop chilled water system, allowing the company to achieve a benchmark water usage effectiveness (WUE) rating of nearly zero and a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating far below the industry average of around 1.50. As a result of these energy efficiency and sustainable water management features, financing for the project was structured as a Green Loan in alignment with the latest Green Loan Principles as published by the Loan Market Association, Asia Pacific Loan Market Association and the Loan Syndications & Trading Association and with ING Capital LLC as the sole Green Loan Structuring Agent.
"The construction financing for the Mesa campus is an important milestone for EdgeCore," said Fentress Boyse, Member of Management, Private Infrastructure Americas, Partners Group. "This represents the first of many financings EdgeCore will pursue to support its ambitious capital plans and customers' needs. The broad participation and strong demand from the banking partners associated with this financing is a validation of EdgeCore's differentiated approach and bright future. This financing also represents the largest Green Loan by a Partners Group portfolio company to date."
In November 2022, EdgeCore was acquired by Partners Group with their pledge to invest up to $1.2 billion to fund the acquisition and buildout of existing and future data center sites. EdgeCore utilized Partners Group's initial capital commitment throughout 2023 to expand and begin development of data center campuses in Santa Clara, California (January 2023); Ashburn, Virginia (March); Mesa, Arizona (April) and Reno, Nevada (August 2023).