Years of layout bring harvest season: BlackRock, Inc. (BLK.US) leverages Meta (META.US) to secure $12 billion in financing, accelerating its entry into the heavyweight players in the private equity market.

BlackRock, Inc. (BLK.US) is seeking to sell over $12 billion in bonds to assist in financing a data center for Meta (META.US) located in El Paso, Texas. This bond sale is the result of CEO Larry Fink's efforts to build this public market investment giant into a player in the private market. The upcoming bond sale brings together investors from Fink's recent major acquisitions - the $12.5 billion acquisition of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and the $12 billion acquisition of HPS Investment Partners. This will further propel BlackRock, Inc. into the increasingly competitive landscape and assist in financing the AI boom. So far, competitors Blue Owl Capital Inc. and Blackstone Inc. have been dominating in the largest data center financing projects. According to sources, this transaction is also an example of how BlackRock, Inc. executives plan to leverage these two departments to conduct potential future transactions. GIP has historically focused on infrastructure project investments, while HPS has built its business through transactions including complex credit financing. Under the agreement with Meta, funds managed by GIP and HPS own 80% of the joint venture "Sopaipilla Holdings project" (the official name of the joint venture established with Meta). The entity holding this ownership is currently raising funds in the debt market. The remaining 20% ownership of the joint venture is held by Meta, which is constructing the data center campus. Just days before the launch of the bond sale for this project, Fink stated that GIP and HPS were "converging on the asset origination side." Last week, after BlackRock, Inc. released its quarterly earnings report, he told analysts that the deal pipeline for these two departments was "constantly building as we enhance our confidence in combining platforms, especially in the digital infrastructure space." Sources also revealed that in addition to the debt being raised, GIP and HPS also have equity in the project. The GW-level data center is expected to come online in 2028 and will support over 300 on-site jobs once completed. Sources further disclosed that GIP Managing Director Wes Mann and HPS Managing Director Garrett Cochran are expected to speak to potential buyers supporting the $12 billion bonds for this project. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have already started the sales process for this offering on Monday. For Meta, having BlackRock, Inc. as a partner is seen as a significant victory internally. The deal structure between BlackRock, Inc. and Meta is similar to the partnership this large-scale cloud service provider had with Blue Owl on their Hyperion project in rural Louisiana. Blue Owl held 80% of the joint venture, with Meta holding the remaining 20%, allowing the tech company to retain control over daily operations while keeping debt off its balance sheet. This month, Meta expanded the Hyperion project beyond the scope of the joint venture. Prior to conducting this deal, BlackRock, Inc. was already increasing its investments in AI technology and data centers, including their agreement in October to acquire Aligned Data Centers for $40 billion. This transaction is expected to be completed soon, with participants including GIP, BlackRock, Inc.'s partners (such as Microsoft Corporation and NVIDIA Corporation), as well as the technology investment platform MGX jointly founded by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company and UAE AI company G42.