Atlas Energy Solutions closes US$424M bridge loan for data centre equipment
The delayed draw facility starts with US$171 million borrowed and a 180-day maturity, with an extension tied to supply agreements and lender consent.
Ines Halvorsen
First power in late 2027 is the target for two data centre developments, with Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. NYSEAESI announcing on Thursday it had closed a US$424 million equipment bridge facility.
The Oct. 22 release puts the loan's interest rate at adjusted SOFR plus 2.50 per cent, with US$171 million drawn at closing.
The lenders are The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. NYSEGS and Barclays PLC LONBARC NYSEBCS, and the initial maturity is 180 days.
Atlas shares closed higher at US$9.39 on the NYSEAESI at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 21, before the financing announcement.
Atlas serves customers where grid utilities are unavailable, supplying private power systems as well as frac sand and logistics services to oil and gas producers. The financing is earmarked for generation and balance-of-plant equipment for the two developments.
The Oct. 22 commitment leaves US$253 million undrawn, calculated from the facility size and the closing advance. Atlas expects to borrow as equipment payments come due, so the full commitment is not cash already in hand. The release does not state its cash balance after the draw or quantify resulting net liquidity.
The loan carries an option to extend its maturity by another 184 days. That requires consummation of energy supply agreements for the respective developments, lender consent and other conditions.
The margin rises by 0.50 percentage points six months after signing. The base can be either Adjusted Term SOFR or Adjusted Daily Simple SOFR, so the announcement does not fix an all-in interest rate.
Atlas can also request up to US$286 million of incremental commitments under the Oct. 22 terms. Lender consent and other conditions apply, making that potential borrowing separate from the US$424 million already committed.
Equipment Orders Precede Final Energy Supply Agreements
Two cost reimbursement agreements announced on Sept. 25 allocate the equipment to a customer Atlas describes as a leading frontier AI lab. The customer is not named in either announcement.
One agreement supports emissions control systems, electrical distribution equipment, battery storage and other infrastructure for existing generator orders. The other backs an additional 283 megawatts of generation equipment purchase commitments announced on Sept. 25.
Atlas said on Oct. 22 that it is still working towards final agreements with its customer and related counterparties.
"Most of the project spending comes after those are signed and construction has begun, and we’ll fund it with long-term financing backed by each project’s contracted cash flows," Atlas chief executive John Turner said in the release.
Neither announcement gives a price per megawatt-hour or the term of the prospective energy supply agreements. Atlas's Oct. 22 statement identifies obtaining long-term financing to refinance the bridge on acceptable terms as a risk.
Read more: Bitzero Holdings signs Norway data centre development agreement
The next contractual milestone is execution of the energy supply agreements, one condition for the additional 184 days. Atlas gives no signing deadline in the Oct. 22 release; first power at both developments is expected in late 2027.
