Meta BlackRock Data Center Venture Worth $14B
Meta BlackRock data center JV will build an El Paso AI campus financed with $12.5B project-level debt, shifting Meta toward lease-like capital exposure.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Venture will fund approximately $14 billion in development costs with BlackRock-managed funds holding an 80% economic interest.
- Capital stack uses $12.5B project-level debt, letting Meta treat campus use as lease expense.
- Meta will provide residual-value guarantees near $13 billion that decrease over time, capping residual risk.
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Meta Platforms Inc. (META) and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) said in a press release on July 28, 2026, that their Meta BlackRock data center venture will build an AI campus in El Paso, funded with BlackRock-managed capital and external debt while Meta remains the initial tenant.
Structure and Financing
Meta and BlackRock formed a venture to develop, own, finance, and operate the El Paso data center campus. Funds managed by BlackRock will hold an 80% economic interest, with Meta retaining 20%. Both parties committed to fund their pro rata share of the approximately $14 billion total development costs.
At financial close, Meta will contribute land and construction-in-progress assets valued at about $2.3 billion. BlackRock will make a cash contribution of roughly $4.9 billion, and Meta will receive a one-time distribution of approximately $1 billion to align ownership stakes.
The venture’s capital stack includes project-level debt financing of about $12.5 billion raised against the venture rather than Meta. This structure allows Meta to treat its use of the campus primarily as lease expense rather than a single upfront capital outlay.
Meta will provide residual-value guarantees with an aggregate threshold near $13 billion that decreases over time. If specified conditions are met within the first 16 years of the lease, Meta’s maximum payment equals any shortfall between the fair value at that time and the threshold for the covered property.
Campus Scope and Timeline
The El Paso data center campus is under construction and designed to provide 1 gigawatt of compute capacity to support Meta’s AI technologies and model development. Meta said the site "will play an essential role in bringing Meta’s AI technologies to life," with capacity expected to begin coming online in 2028.
Meta will serve as construction manager, administrative manager, and property manager for the campus. Its leases include a four-year initial term plus four options to extend, allowing a potential 20-year total commitment.
Meta describes the project as representing an investment of over $10 billion from Meta. It will support more than 4,000 construction jobs at peak and roughly 300 operational roles once complete. More than 2,300 workers are already onsite.
The transaction is expected to close in the coming days. The announcement was issued from Menlo Park, California, and New York. Morgan Stanley & Co. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as financial advisers to Meta.
