Meta and BlackRock forge $14 billion venture to build massive El Paso data center for AI

Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center

Meta Platforms and the world's largest asset manager, BlackRock, on Tuesday announced a venture to develop and operate a data center campus in El Paso, Texas, a project that would cost about $14 billion in development. The race to build out AI infrastructure has prompted tech giants to turn to debt sales worth tens of billions of dollars or seek external capital from fund managers such as BlackRock due to an unprecedented scale of investment. Meta said BlackRock-managed funds will take an 80% ownership stake in the venture, with Meta retaining the remaining 20%. A portion of BlackRock's investment will be financed through $12.5 billion in debt. Meta will also receive a $1 billion distribution to align ownership. Meta will contribute land and in-progress construction assets worth about $2.3 billion, while BlackRock will make a cash contribution of about $4.9 billion, the company said. The Facebook-parent earlier said it was building an over $10 billion data center project in El Paso, near the Texas-New Mexico border, among 28 data centers it has in either operation or under construction in the U.S. The data center campus, already under construction, is designed to provide 1 gigawatt of compute capacity, essential for Meta's AI technologies and supporting its core business. Operations are expected to commence in 2028. Meta has said it plans to invest $600 billion to build data centers by 2028, with an aim to fast-track work on personal superintelligence, which could help spin up new cash flows from the Meta AI app, image-to-video ad tools and smart glasses. The social media giant is building several gigawatt-scale data centers across the U.S., including one in rural Louisiana, a project Meta expected to expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, with investment increasing to more than $50 billion. Shares of Meta had fallen about 10% so far this year, as investors are scrutinizing costs of AI expansion. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 29. Morgan Stanley & Co and J.P. Morgan Securities served as financial advisors to Meta in connection with this transaction.

Meta and BlackRock form a $14bn venture to build an El Paso AI data centre

BlackRock funds will own 80% of the one-gigawatt Texas campus, and Meta will lease it back, keeping most of the cost off its balance sheet. Meta has folded its half-built El Paso data centre into a joint venture with BlackRock, formalising a structure that keeps most of a $14bn project off its own books. Under the agreement, funds managed by BlackRock will own 80% of the Texas campus and Meta the remaining 20%, though Meta stays on as the site's construction manager, property manager, and sole tenant once the servers come online in 2028. The venture puts total development at roughly $14bn, and the way that sum is split is really the point of the deal. BlackRock is contributing about $4.9bn in cash at financial close, while Meta hands over the land and construction-in-progress it has already sunk into the site, worth around $2.3bn, and takes a one-time $1bn distribution to align the ownership. The balance, some $12.5bn, arrives as debt raised against the project rather than against Meta, which lets the company book its use of the campus as rent instead of capital spending. That distinction matters more than usual this year, because Meta has guided to $125bn to $145bn in capital expenditure for 2026, a range it raised in April, and it is under real pressure to show that the AI build-out will eventually pay for itself. The financing has been coming together for weeks. BlackRock lined up the borrowing for the campus earlier this month, after Meta had already assembled a package that briefly looked like a new ceiling for single-site AI financing. The debt figure crept up as the plan hardened, from the roughly $12bn to $13bn discussed during those rounds to the $12.5bn now baked into the venture. BlackRock is running the deal through Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS Investment Partners, the two arms it has been pointing at data-centre assets since it bought Aligned Data Centers for $40bn. The firm now sits on both sides of these transactions, originating the infrastructure and then selling the debt that funds it, and El Paso follows that template closely. For Meta, the appeal is a model it has used before. In rural Louisiana it kept the majority of its $200bn Hyperion campus off its balance sheet by handing 80% to an outside investor and leasing the site back, and the El Paso structure repeats the arithmetic almost exactly. The initial lease runs four years with four extension options, which could stretch the arrangement to two decades. Meta has separately said it plans to spend around $600bn on US infrastructure through 2028, though that headline figure is a pledge rather than a committed budget. The mechanics are not free of risk, since the debt behind these campuses tends to be long-dated while the servers inside them depreciate within a handful of years, and the lease can run shorter than the hardware it is meant to house. The campus itself is designed to deliver a gigawatt of compute for Meta's AI systems and its core advertising business, with power expected in 2028, which would make it one of the larger single-site facilities the company has committed to outside Louisiana. BlackRock says about 2,300 people are already working on the site, that construction should peak above 4,000 jobs, and that roughly 300 permanent roles will remain once it is running. The company has also promised to train some 12,000 electricians over three years through a programme it calls Future Builders, a nod to the labour shortage now shadowing large data-centre builds. Mark Zuckerberg framed the venture as a way to move quicker, saying the partnership with BlackRock "allows us to move faster and at greater scale" and tying it to Meta's stated ambition of building the infrastructure for what he calls superintelligence. Larry Fink, BlackRock's chief executive, cast it as a proof point for a business his firm is still assembling, saying the deal showed "the strength and scale of our combined capabilities with GIP and HPS." Neither addressed the obvious question underneath the numbers, which is what happens if the compute Meta is buying at this scale takes longer than 2028 to earn its keep.

Meta hands BlackRock 80% stake in $14B Texas data center venture

Meta Platforms and BlackRock have formed a joint venture to develop and own a massive AI-focused data center campus in El Paso, Texas. The project carries an estimated development cost of about $14 billion and will provide 1 gigawatt of computing capacity to support Meta's growing artificial intelligence infrastructure. The companies expect to complete the transaction within days. The first computing capacity is scheduled to come online in 2028. Meta will remain the campus' sole tenant after construction finishes, leasing the entire facility from the venture. Meta selected BlackRock after a competitive search for a long-term infrastructure financing partner. The investment firm, together with Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS Investment Partners, will provide the capital needed to accelerate one of Meta's largest AI infrastructure projects. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said advanced computing infrastructure will play a critical role in the company's push toward superintelligence. "Building the infrastructure for superintelligence is key to making sure the benefits of this technology are distributed to everyone," Zuckerberg said. He added that the partnership with BlackRock would allow Meta to expand faster by combining its data center expertise with BlackRock's infrastructure investment capabilities. BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink said the project reflects growing demand for large-scale financing tied to AI infrastructure. "We're excited to partner with Mark and the Meta leadership team on the El Paso data center campus," Fink said. He said the project will create thousands of skilled jobs while supporting economic growth in the region. Fink added that BlackRock aims to provide long-term capital for major infrastructure developments. Meta plans to invest more than $10 billion in the El Paso campus. Construction is expected to support more than 4,000 jobs at peak activity, while the completed facility will employ about 300 people full-time. More than 2,300 workers are already on site. The company also tied the project to workforce development efforts. The campus participates in America's Workforce Academy, a free skilled trades program that guarantees graduates employment with a Meta partner at one of its data center locations. Local education will also receive support. Meta awarded El Paso public schools a $500,000 grant to expand STEM programs and skilled trades pathways. The company said it will continue funding water restoration projects across the region to improve water quality and strengthen local supplies. BlackRock is backing skilled labor through its Future Builders initiative. The nearly $30 million program aims to train more than 12,000 electricians over the next three years, helping meet rising demand from energy, infrastructure and data center construction across Texas. Funds managed by BlackRock will own an 80% stake in the venture, while Meta will retain the remaining 20%. Meta will contribute land and partially completed construction assets valued at about $2.3 billion. BlackRock will invest roughly $4.9 billion in cash at closing. The partners will share development costs according to their ownership stakes. BlackRock plans to finance part of its investment through a $12.5 billion debt package. Meta will lease the entire campus under agreements that begin with a four-year term and include options extending occupancy to as long as 20 years. The company will also provide residual value guarantees tied to the long-term value of the site's buildings and critical infrastructure.

Meta and BlackRock form $14 billion El Paso data center venture

Meta $META Platforms and BlackRock $BLK announced a venture Tuesday to develop and own a data center campus in El Paso, Texas, with total development costs of approximately $14 billion. Under the agreement, funds managed by BlackRock will control 80% of the venture, with Meta keeping the remaining 20% stake. At financial close, Meta will transfer land and partially built construction assets worth around $2.3 billion into the venture, while BlackRock is set to put in roughly $4.9 billion in cash. Meta will also receive a one-time distribution of approximately $1 billion to align ownership stakes. A portion of BlackRock's investment will be funded through $12.5 billion in debt financing, the company said. The facility, which is currently being built, will deliver 1 gigawatt of compute capacity when finished. Meta will be the sole occupant upon completion, which is expected in 2028. Meta will enter into lease agreements with the venture for use of the entire campus, with a four-year initial term and four extension options covering a potential 20-year period. The transaction is expected to close in the coming days, the company said. "Building the infrastructure for superintelligence is key to making sure the benefits of this technology are distributed to everyone," Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. "Our partnership with Larry and the team at BlackRock allows us to move faster and at greater scale." BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink said in a statement that the El Paso campus "will create thousands of skilled jobs and help drive economic growth in the local community." Meta's investment in the El Paso project exceeds $10 billion, supporting more than 4,000 construction jobs at peak and 300 operational jobs once complete, with over 2,300 workers already on site, the company said. BlackRock's investment in the venture also involves Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS Investment Partners, both part of BlackRock. The El Paso deal follows the same structure as an earlier arrangement in Louisiana, where Meta sought to sell more than $12 billion in bonds to help finance the campus through a holding company tied to BlackRock's ownership position in the project, named Project Sopaipilla Holdings. That structure mirrors what Meta applied at its Hyperion data center in Louisiana, where a joint venture issued debt to keep liabilities off Meta's books. Meta has publicly committed to spending $600 billion on data center construction through 2028. Meta stock has fallen about 10% so far this year, with the company scheduled to report second-quarter results on Wednesday. Meta said Morgan Stanley $MS and J.P. Morgan Securities acted as its financial advisors for the deal.

Meta to build $14B El Paso data center campus with BlackRock

Meta Platforms Inc. today announced plans to build an artificial intelligence data center campus in El Paso, Texas. The project is a collaboration with BlackRock Inc., the world's largest asset manager. The two companies plan to invest $14 billion in the campus. Meta and BlackRock expect to finalize their joint venture agreement in the coming days. Upon signing, the Facebook parent will contribute $2.3 billion worth of physical assets including on-site facilities that are currently under construction. BlackRock, in turn, will invest $4.9 billion. The asset management also intends to make a $1 billion payment to Meta. BlackRock is set to receive a 80% stake in the campus while the social networking giant will own the remaining 20%. Meta will be the site's sole user when it comes online in 2028. According to the Facebook parent, its lease has a four-year initial term that can be optionally renewed four times. Meta stated that the initiative's $14 billion budget covers "total development costs for the buildings" along with power, cooling and networking expenses. Notably, the company didn't mention the cost of the chips that the campus will host, which suggests the total project price could be higher. Earlier this month, Meta announced plans to spend more than $50 billion on a data center campus in Louisiana. Bloomberg reported that the price tag will be $250 billion when taking into account chips and certain related items. The Louisiana project has a similar financial structure as Meta's El Paso development. Last year, the company sold an 80% stake in the former campus to Blue Owl Capital. In return, the investment firm made a $7 billion cash contribution to the project. Meta expects its El Paso campus to provide 1 gigawatt of AI-optimized computing capacity. The site joins a string of 1-gigawatt data center projects that the company has announced over the past two years. Those campuses are located in Ohio, Indiana and Canada. Meta expects its three other 1-gigawatt sites to cost around $10 billion. The fact that the El Paso site has a $14 billion budget hints the company may be planning to use a different, more advanced data center design. It's also possible that Meta will use the campus to power the cloud infrastructure business it's reportedly building. The Facebook parent ended 2055 with $72 billion in capital expenses. Meta expects that number to range between $125 billion and $145 billion this year. The cloud business that Meta is believed to be building could ease its efforts to realize a return on investment. Meta already sells access to Muse Spark 1.1, its newest AI model, via an application programming interface that enables other companies to integrate it into their applications.

Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center

Meta Platforms and BlackRock are developing a $14 billion data center campus in El Paso, Texas. BlackRock-managed funds will own eighty percent of the venture, and Meta retains twenty percent. This significant investment fuels the global race to build essential artificial intelligence infrastructure. Meta plans to invest six hundred billion dollars by twenty twenty-eight for data center expansion. Meta Platforms and the world's largest asset manager BlackRock on Tuesday announced a venture to develop and operate a data center campus in El Paso, Texas, a project that would cost about $14 billion in development. The race to build out AI infrastructure has prompted tech giants to turn to debt sales worth tens of billions of dollars or seek external capital ⁠from ⁠fund managers such as BlackRock due to an unprecedented scale of investment. Meta said BlackRock-managed funds will take an 80% ownership stake in the venture, with Meta retaining the remaining 20%. A portion of BlackRock's investment will be financed through $12.5 billion in debt. Meta will also receive a $1 billion distribution to align ownership. Meta will contribute land and in-progress construction assets worth about $2.3 billion, while BlackRock will ⁠make a cash contribution of about $4.9 billion, the company said. The Facebook-parent earlier said it was building an over $10 billion data center project in El ⁠Paso, near the Texas-New Mexico border, among 28 data centers it has in either operation or under construction in the U.S. The data center campus, already under construction, is designed to provide 1 gigawatt of compute capacity, essential for Meta's AI technologies and supporting its core business. Operations are expected to commence in 2028. Meta has said it plans to invest $600 billion to build data centers by 2028, with an aim to fast-track work on personal superintelligence, which could help spin up new cash flows from the Meta AI app, image-to-video ad tools and smart glasses. The social media giant is ⁠building several gigawatt-scale data centers across the U.S., including one in rural Louisiana, a project Meta expected to expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, with investment increasing to more than $50 billion. Shares of Meta had fallen about 10% so far this year, as investors are scrutinizing costs of AI expansion. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 29. Morgan Stanley & Co and J.P. Morgan Securities served as financial advisors to Meta in connection with this transaction.

Meta, BlackRock partner on US$14 billion El Paso data centre

Meta Platforms and the world's largest asset manager BlackRock on Tuesday announced a venture to develop and operate a data centre campus in El Paso, Texas, a project that would cost about US$14 billion in development. The race to build out AI infrastructure has prompted tech giants to turn to debt sales worth tens of billions of dollars or seek external capital from fund managers such as BlackRock due to an unprecedented scale of investment. Meta said BlackRock-managed funds will take an 80 per cent ownership stake in the venture, with Meta retaining the remaining 20 per cent. A portion of BlackRock's investment will be financed through $12.5 billion in debt. Meta will also receive a $1 billion distribution to align ownership. Meta will contribute land and in-progress construction assets worth about $2.3 billion, while BlackRock will make a cash contribution of about $4.9 billion, the company said. The Facebook-parent earlier said it was building an over $10 billion data center project in El Paso, near the Texas-New Mexico border, among 28 data centers it has in either operation or under construction in the U.S. The data center campus, already under construction, is designed to provide 1 gigawatt of compute capacity, essential for Meta's AI technologies and supporting its core business. Operations are expected to commence in 2028. Meta has said it plans to invest $600 billion to build data centers by 2028, with an aim to fast-track work on personal superintelligence, which could help spin up new cash flows from the Meta AI app, image-to-video ad tools and smart glasses. The social media giant is building several gigawatt-scale data centers across the U.S., including one in rural Louisiana, a project Meta expected to expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, with investment increasing to more than $50 billion. Shares of Meta had fallen about 10 per cent so far this year, as investors are scrutinizing costs of AI expansion. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter results on July 29. Morgan Stanley & Co and J.P. Morgan Securities served as financial advisors to Meta in connection with this transaction.

Meta Platforms, Inc. and Blackrock, Inc. Announce Venture to Develop Data Center Campus in El Paso, Texas

Meta Platforms, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc. announced a venture to develop and own a data center campus in El Paso, Texas. Meta selected BlackRock, Inc. as its partner following a highly competitive process, reflecting the company's disciplined approach to diversifying its infrastructure financing as it scales Meta Compute. BlackRock, Inc., together with Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS Investment Partners, both a part of BlackRock, Inc., complements this strategy. The data center campus, currently under construction in El Paso, Texas, will have 1 gigawatt of compute capacity and will play an essential role in bringing Meta Platforms, Inc.'s AI technologies to life, accelerating progress on AI models and supporting enhancements to the core business. Meta Platforms, Inc. will provide construction management, administrative, and property management services for the campus, and will be the initial sole occupant of the campus upon completion. The transaction is expected to close in the coming days and the venture expects to begin bringing this capacity online in 2028. Funds managed by BlackRock, Inc. will own an 80% interest in the venture, while Meta Platforms, Inc. will retain the remaining 20% ownership. The parties have committed to fund their respective pro rata share of the approximately $14 billion in total development costs for the buildings and long-lived power, cooling, and connectivity infrastructure at the campus. At financial close, Meta Platforms, Inc. will contribute the venture land and construction-in-progress assets valued at approximately $2.3 billion, and BlackRock, Inc. will make a cash contribution of approximately $4.9 billion. Meta Platforms, Inc. will receive a one-time distribution of approximately $1 billion to align ownership stakes in accordance with the 80/20 ownership split. A portion of BlackRock, Inc.'s investment will be funded with proceeds from a $12.5 billion debt financing.