Aligned Data Centers has completed a $1.183 billion asset-backed securities issuance, the hyperscale developer’s first securitization since 2023, upsized roughly 30% from an initial $905 million target on what the company described as strong institutional demand. The deal underscores how deeply capital markets are now underwriting the physical infrastructure behind the AI buildout, with investors racing to lock in exposure to data center rent rolls the way they once did office towers and apartment portfolios.
The transaction, announced in a July 28 release distributed via GlobeNewswire, is backed by four Aligned data center campuses and 14 enterprise customers, with more than 90% of the collateral pool’s annualized adjusted base rent coming from investment-grade tenants. The notes were issued in Class A-2-I and Class B tranches with five-year anticipated repayment dates. Aligned said net proceeds will fund its ongoing development pipeline, refinance upcoming debt maturities and satisfy mandatory reserve account requirements — the standard triad of uses for data center ABS deals, which convert long-term tenant leases into tradable fixed-income securities.
“Our capital partners are the bedrock of this strategy, and we thank them for their continued trust in our platform and technology,” said Meghan Baivier, Aligned’s chief financial officer, in the company’s announcement. Aligned said the offering broadened its investor base, drawing commitments from institutions new to the company and, in some cases, new to the data center ABS market entirely.
A platform built for AI-scale demand
Aligned operates roughly 50 data center campuses across North and South America, with more than 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity spanning Tier I markets including Northern Virginia, Chicago, Dallas, Ohio, Phoenix and Salt Lake City, plus Sao Paulo, Brazil; Queretaro, Mexico; and Santiago, Chile, according to the company. That footprint has expanded rapidly as hyperscalers, neoclouds and enterprise AI customers compete for power-dense capacity, a dynamic RealtyWire has tracked in deals such as Meta and BlackRock’s $14 billion venture for an El Paso data center campus and Core Scientific’s infrastructure partnership with AMD.
The securitization follows a $2.58 billion revolving credit facility Aligned closed in March, secured by an initial pool of six U.S. assets and structured to appeal to insurance companies and pension funds seeking investment-grade exposure to data center development. Together, the two transactions total more than $3.7 billion in financing activity for Aligned in 2026 alone. Aligned itself was the subject of a roughly $40 billion take-private transaction that closed in October 2025, when the Artificial Infrastructure Partnership, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners acquired the company from Macquarie Asset Management — a deal that RealtyWire’s broader technology-ai coverage has followed as institutional capital consolidates around a handful of hyperscale platforms.
What it means
Verified facts: Aligned’s own release confirms the $1.183 billion ABS deal size, the 30% upsizing from a $905 million target, the four-campus/14-customer collateral pool, the 90%-plus investment-grade tenant concentration, and the CFO’s quoted statement. The company also confirmed the March credit facility’s $2.58 billion size and six-asset collateral pool in a separate release.
Attributed interpretation: Aligned’s characterization of “strong investor demand” and the deal broadening its capital base reflects the company’s own framing of the transaction and has not been independently verified by outside analysts.
RealtyWire analysis: The upsizing and rapid succession of large financings — a credit facility in March followed by an ABS deal in July, on the heels of a $40 billion ownership change — point to sustained institutional appetite for data center debt even as questions persist elsewhere about the pace of AI infrastructure spending outstripping near-term demand.
What to watch
Whether Aligned discloses which specific campuses or expansion projects the new proceeds are directed toward, and whether the broadened investor base in this ABS deal signals more first-time entrants underwriting data center securitizations as the asset class matures. Any additional financings tied to Aligned’s post-acquisition capital plans under its new ownership group would also be worth tracking.
