Key Notes
- ING is reportedly offering a portfolio of twelve data-center loans as investors reassess the financing behind the AI infrastructure boom.
- The offering includes a $25 million Stargate-linked interest, while the auction price and the bank’s reasons for selling remain undisclosed.
- Oracle’s earlier force-majeure notice concerned potential power delays in New Mexico and preceded the election, with the company saying its project remained on schedule.
ING is reportedly seeking buyers for about $500 million of data-center loans, putting a slice of the AI infrastructure boom in front of debt investors as confidence in the sector comes under pressure. The portfolio includes exposure to the New Mexico site associated with Stargate, the sprawling computing initiative involving OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle.
The Dutch bank is offering 12 loans, including a $25 million piece linked to that project, according to Reuters, citing Bloomberg. The amount represents part of the project’s financing, rather than the cost of the campus or a direct loan of that size to OpenAI.
An Auction for AI Infrastructure Debt
The loans are being marketed through a bids-wanted-in-competition process, with offers of at least $10 million due November 19, CNBC reported. The package also includes exposure involving Vantage Data Centers and CyrusOne. ING declined to comment, leaving its reasons for the sale unconfirmed.
Banks routinely distribute loans to other investors, including asset managers, insurers and private-credit funds. Selling an interest transfers some of the lender’s exposure; by itself, it does not establish that a borrower has defaulted, that construction has stopped or that a bank is accepting a loss.
Hank Calenti, a global markets strategist at SMBC, told CNBC that a seller must weigh any discount against the capital a transaction frees up. Without accepted bids or a disclosed sale price, investors cannot yet tell whether this auction reflects ordinary portfolio management or a more urgent effort to reduce risk.
Oracle’s New Mexico Warning Came Earlier
The Stargate connection makes the offering particularly sensitive. OpenAI previously announced the New Mexico location in Doña Ana County as part of its expansion with Oracle, making the site one component of a much larger infrastructure program.
On September 24, Oracle’s force-majeure notice to the developer surfaced in earlier reporting. That was weeks before the November election.
Reuters reported at the time that the notice concerned potential delays in securing power for Project Jupiter. A person familiar with the matter said Oracle could not terminate its lease; Bloomberg’s account described an effort to postpone payments if the facility missed its planned 2028 opening.
Oracle said the project remained on schedule. Blue Owl, which owns developer Stack Infrastructure, said the notice did not alter financial commitments to the project. Those responses matter: a contractual warning about possible delays is different from an announced withdrawal by the tenant.
The Question Is Who Will Finance the Buildout
The auction arrives amid a broader reassessment of AI investment and uncertainty over how Democratic gains will affect data-center approvals. Recent market turbulence has sharpened questions about the returns behind enormous computing commitments. The public backlash against new facilities adds another complication.
For a lender, strong demand for AI does not eliminate the risk of a particular campus opening late. Power availability, permits and construction schedules determine when a building can become useful computing capacity, while financing obligations depend on the terms negotiated along the way.
The November 19 bidding deadline should therefore offer a more concrete signal than the decision to solicit buyers alone. The price investors are willing to pay, the amount ING ultimately transfers and any terms attached to a deal will help show how much appetite remains for financing the next phase of the AI race.
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