Blue Owl’s Stack Seeks $6 Billion Melbourne Loan as AI Debt Faces Scrutiny
This article first appeared in The Energy Mag. The original article can be viewed here. The Energy Mag (formerly The Miner Mag) provides news, data, and insights on the energy–compute–markets nexus.
The Blue Owl Capital-owned company appointed lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners this week for the five-year facility, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The proposed borrowing could rank among the largest data center financings in Asia.
The mandate marks a step toward arranging the loan rather than a completed financing. The fundraising comes as pressure on AI-related debt raises questions about the cost of financing new computing capacity. Bonds issued by AI cloud provider CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) fell into distressed territory on Oct. 14, with yields exceeding 15%.
Stack has already tapped banks to expand its Melbourne operations. In July 2025, it announced an A$1.3 billion green financing facility for the next phase of its MEL01 campus. Deutsche Bank, MUFG Bank, Natixis, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and Société Générale fully underwrote that facility.
The newly reported loan would be more than six times the size of that earlier financing, although Bloomberg’s report did not specify whether it would refinance existing borrowings or fund a separate development.
Stack lists two Melbourne campuses in the city’s western suburb of Truganina: MEL01, with 180 megawatts of capacity across four buildings, and the nearby 252-megawatt MEL02 development. The report did not identify which campus would receive the proceeds.
The borrowing plans also coincide with a potential review of Stack’s regional ownership. Bloomberg reported in May that the company was considering a partial or full sale of its assets in Australia, Japan and Malaysia.
Blue Owl acquired the business of Stack’s backer, digital infrastructure investment manager IPI Partners, in a transaction that closed on Jan. 6, 2025. The proposed Melbourne financing would test lenders’ willingness to support another large expansion as scrutiny of AI infrastructure spending intensifies.
