Blackstone Leads $7.5B Debt Deal for AI Hyperscaler CoreWeave
Blackstone led a $7.5 billion debt financing arrangement for AI hyperscaler CoreWeave, in one of the largest-ever private debt financings, with strategic participation from co-lead investors Magnetar Capital and Coatue.
Carlyle, CDPQ, DigitalBridge Credit, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Eldridge Industries and Great Elm Capital also participated in the new funding.
Magnetar and funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities provided a $2.3 billion debt financing facility to CoreWeave in September 2023, while Coatue was the lead investor in a $1.1 billion Series C round earlier this month.
Nvidia-backed CoreWeave has raised more than $12 billion in equity and debt investments over the past 12 months, with the latest valuation reportedly at $19 billion.
Roseland, N.J.-based CoreWeave was founded in 2017 and plans to use the new funding to expand and further develop its specialized cloud infrastructure. The company plans to double its global data center footprint to 28 by the end of the year.
“We are thrilled to expand our existing partnership with CoreWeave and strengthen its market leadership in providing the specialized [graphic processing unit] cloud infrastructure required to support today’s explosive growth in AI,” said Jasvinder Khaira, a senior managing director, and John Watson, a managing director at Blackstone, adding that AI and digital infrastructure are currently among the highest conviction themes at the firm.
The company also recently announced its new European headquarters in London – alongside a commitment to invest $1.25 billion in the region.