Oracle, obligada a pagar a los inversores del centro de datos aunque aún no tiene electricidad

Oracle is required to make payments to data center investors for the Jupiter Project, despite notifying a force majeure situation regarding the project in New Mexico. The technology firm has assured payments to investors of a large data center in New Mexico, even though it lacks electrical supply before the project's scheduled launch date, according to informed sources.

Oracle notified a force majeure situation related to electrical supply to the project's promoter - a division of Blue Owl Capital - after the site faced delays in obtaining permits due to growing local opposition. According to contract terms, Oracle is still obligated to pay a maintenance cost instead of rental payments for up to three years if the project is not ready for the start-up date in the first half of 2027.

Construction works are already underway at the complex, which spans 566 hectares in Doña Ana County; however, Oracle might be compelled to pay for unoperational facilities with no electricity if the grid connection is not guaranteed in time. The risk of electrical supply falls on Oracle, not investors, a source noted. The Jupiter Project is a key piece of Oracle's $300 billion contract to provide computing capacity to OpenAI; it is the core of the software group's ambitious strategy to become a relevant player in the AI data center sector.

The force majeure clause Oracle has relied on is a common legal provision intended to exempt parties from their obligations if an extraordinary event impedes the contract's fulfillment. Oracle may postpone rental payments to Blue Owl, but it would still have to pay a fee covering full interest payments to debt holders as well as a certain level of profitability on capital for Blue Owl's funds that have invested billions in the project, sources indicated.

There was a disagreement over whether it is possible to activate a force majeure clause before the project's expected completion date, a second source commented. Bloomberg was the first to report on the force majeure notification on Thursday morning. A consortium of more than 20 banks, led by BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, MUFG, and SMBC, provided 18,000 million dollars in debt financing for the project's construction last year.

However, attempts to transfer this debt to a broader group of institutional investors stalled due to growing concerns about Oracle's creditworthiness following an unprecedented wave of borrowing; this left banks with more debt from the project linked to Oracle on their balance sheets than initially expected, according to sources.

Loans tied to the project have been under pressure and banks were trading them at less than 90 cents on the dollar, according to Financial Times earlier. Loans linked to the four-year construction debt had a fixed rate of 2.5 percentage points above the SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) with an optional two-year extension.

BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, and SMBC declined to comment. MUFG did not respond to a request for comment. Oracle stated that force majeure notifications do not delay the project or alter delivery expectations. The Jupiter Project is still on schedule. We are committed to New Mexico and confident in our path forward, the company affirmed.

A Blue Owl spokesperson noted that the notice does not change financial commitments with this multi-year project.