WSJ: BlackRock ETFs Invest $3 Billion in Louisiana Project
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on October 21 (local time) that BlackRock’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have become major financiers of Meta’s plan to build a massive data center in Louisiana, as the parent company of Facebook and Instagram moves forward with the project.
According to WSJ, some actively managed ETFs operated by BlackRock invested more than 3 billion dollars in bonds issued last week in connection with Meta’s Louisiana data center construction project.
An ETF is a fund that is listed on an exchange and can be traded like a stock. If a fund does not passively track the performance of a specific index but instead involves the fund manager’s investment decisions, it is classified as an actively managed ETF. WSJ reported that BlackRock’s actively managed high-yield ETF invested 2.1 billion dollars in bonds related to Meta’s Louisiana data center project, and that other bond funds, including absolute return funds, also participated in the investment.
WSJ also cited sources saying that, in addition to BlackRock, PIMCO-the world’s largest bond investment firm-acted as an anchor investor and invested a total of 18 billion dollars.
Meta is currently building a massive data center called “Hyperion” in Richland Parish, Louisiana, to handle artificial intelligence (AI) computing tasks. Meta is pushing forward with this project in partnership with the private equity firm Blue Owl Capital. Last week, Blue Owl issued bonds related to this project and succeeded in raising a total of 27 billion dollars. WSJ noted that this represents the largest single private fundraising in corporate history.
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