Data centres seek credit ratings to unlock billions in funding for AI push

Agencies are rushing to rate the debt of projects still under construction

Data centre developers are seeking credit ratings — even while facilities are still under construction — as the tech industry tries to open up new sources of capital to fund hundreds of billions of dollars in AI investments.

S&P, Moody’s, Fitch and Kroll Bond Rating Agency have in recent months expanded their coverage to data centre projects that are yet to be completed, and in many cases given out private ratings for loans so that banks can offload them to a broader base of institutional investors.

Having the stamp of approval from rating agencies is particularly important for these colossal data centre build-outs, which have overwhelmed the project finance market and need to attract new classes of investors, such as insurance companies, that can only buy into high-grade deals rated by the big three agencies.