Analysis
Nebius secured a $3.5 billion senior secured financing facility arranged by Citi, which is acting as mandated lead arranger, agent and security agent, according to Pulse2.com. The 364-day facility will fund data center development, GPU purchases and general corporate needs as the Amsterdam-based company expands its AI cloud platform.
The facility prices at Term SOFR plus 2.75%, with the spread able to rise to 3.50% under additional adjustments -- a floating structure that ties Nebius's borrowing cost directly to prevailing rates rather than locking in a fixed cost of capital. "Sequencing our financing is how we optimize our long-term cost of capital," said Nebius Chief Operating Officer Ophir Nave.
“"Sequencing our financing is how we optimize our long-term cost of capital," said Nebius Chief Operating Officer Ophir Nave.”
The short, 364-day tenor is notable: it signals Citi structured this as a bridge-style facility rather than long-dated project debt, implying either an expectation of refinancing into longer-term instruments once assets are built out, or a shorter repayment horizon tied to specific contracted revenue. Nebius, a full-stack AI cloud platform covering model training, data infrastructure and production deployment, is leaning on debt rather than new equity to fund the current buildout phase -- a financing pattern increasingly common among AI infrastructure players competing against hyperscaler capex budgets without hyperscaler balance sheets.
