Nebius Secures $3.5 Billion Citi Financing to Accelerate AI Infrastructure Build-Out

Nebius Lands Major Financing Deal for AI Capacity Expansion

Nebius, an Amsterdam-based AI cloud services firm, secured a 1

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$3.5 billion financing facility from Citi to accelerate its data center expansion and GPU purchases. The secured facility matures in 364 days and carries an initial interest rate of 2.75% over the Term SOFR benchmark rate, with margins potentially rising to 3.50% subject to adjustments2

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. Citi serves as the lead arranger on the deal, which Nebius will deploy for data center development, GPU acquisitions, and general corporate purposes.

Chief Operating Officer Ophir Nave emphasized that the Citi financing provides flexibility over the timing and structure of future fundraising to support growth in 2027 and beyond1

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. "Sequencing our financing is how we optimize our long-term cost of capital," Nave stated2

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. The facility covers near-term AI infrastructure build-out, while the company retains additional financing options, including borrowing against more than $40 billion in long-term contracts with investment-grade customers such as Microsoft and Meta1

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Distancing from CoreWeave Debt Concerns

The announcement arrives amid heightened investor scrutiny of how neocloud providers fund their expansion. Last week, bonds issued by rival CoreWeave fell sharply in value, triggering a broader selloff in AI infrastructure shares1

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. CoreWeave and Nebius are typically grouped among the top neocloud firms building data centers specialized for AI workloads. This month, the cost of insuring CoreWeave's debt against default climbed to levels generally viewed as distress signals2

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Marc Boroditsky, Nebius's chief revenue officer, directly addressed the comparison in comments to CNBC. "We're not carrying the kind of debt that they are," Boroditsky said2

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. The company currently holds around $10 billion in convertible bond debt following a $5.75 billion issue in August1

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. Nebius's funding strategy also incorporates customer prepayments and operating cash flow, diversifying its capital sources beyond traditional debt instruments.

Computing Capacity Prices Rise Faster Than Expected

Boroditsky revealed that prices for computing capacity are climbing faster than Nebius anticipated. An auction the company conducted showed further price increases, signaling robust demand for AI infrastructure2

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. He projected that if Nebius brought its 2027 capacity online, it would sell out completely. Nebius shares gained ground after SpaceX reported ninefold revenue growth at its AI business, which Boroditsky cited as evidence that supply "continues to fall far behind demand"2

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At Nvidia's GTC conference in Berlin, Nebius began publishing live prices for its spot GPUs—preemptible capacity that can be interrupted2

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. The company also sells capacity through short-term auctions and pay-as-you-go models. It is testing a rebate program for customers who return unused GPUs, aiming to optimize resource allocation across its infrastructure.

Expansion Across Europe and Community Investments

Nebius operates data center capacity across Finland, France, the UK, Spain, Estonia, and Iceland2

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. The company recently added $10 million in compute grants as its AI Builder Program expands throughout Europe. In collaboration with Nvidia and German robotics company Sereact, Nebius announced a robotics training system. The system's first deployment involves Sereact Zalando returns robots operating in CEVA Logistics warehouses, demonstrating practical applications of warehouse automation technology.

Boroditsky also indicated that Nebius is "100% in principle" discussing investments in communities surrounding its data center sites2

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. This follows President Donald Trump's suggestion on Truth Social that data center developers should offer local residents a "dividend." "The concept that the president identified... it's not crazy to consider something like that," Boroditsky said. Watch for how Nebius structures these community benefit programs as it scales operations, potentially setting precedents for how neocloud providers engage with local stakeholders. The company's ability to maintain pricing power while managing debt levels will prove critical as Gartner's recent warning about $3.5 trillion in at-risk AI infrastructure spending looms over the sector.