Polar closes €800 million Nordic bond to fund AI data center buildout

By AI, Created 12:22 PM UTC, June 01, 2026, /AGP/ – Polar Data Centres has placed an €800 million senior secured bond, the largest transaction of its kind in the Nordic bond market, to refinance debt and fund new AI-ready data centre capacity across Europe. The deal supports expansion at the Drangedal campus in Norway and new facilities including HER01 in Herøya, with completion expected in 2026 and 2027.

Why it matters: - The €800 million bond gives Polar fresh capital to expand AI, high-performance computing, hyperscale and cloud infrastructure across Europe. - The deal is the largest transaction of its kind in the Nordic bond market. - The financing supports both refinancing and new capacity as demand for AI-ready data centres grows.

What happened: - Polar Data Centres announced a successful €800 million senior secured bond issuance. - The transaction closed on June 1, 2026, in London. - Polar increased the issue size from €750 million after investor demand reached 4x oversubscription. - Pricing tightened during the bookbuild process.

The details: - Proceeds will refinance existing debt at Polar’s flagship Drangedal campus in Norway. - The bond will also help complete additional facilities scheduled to come online in 2026 and 2027. - HER01 in Herøya, Norway, is one of the named projects in the pipeline. - HER01 is expected to deliver an initial 40MW of capacity. - HER01 will use renewable hydroelectric power. - HER01 is targeting a Power Usage Effectiveness of 1.12. - Polar says its facilities are designed for high-density deployments, direct liquid cooling and strong energy efficiency. - Polar also says its platform is built with advanced engineering, modular delivery and sustainable design principles.

Between the lines: - Strong investor demand suggests capital markets are still willing to back AI infrastructure platforms with clear expansion plans. - The scale of the bond points to rising competition for financing in a sector that requires heavy upfront spending. - Polar’s pitch centers on efficient, renewable-powered capacity for customers that need large-scale compute.

What’s next: - Polar plans to keep building out its European data centre platform. - Additional facilities are expected to come online in 2026 and 2027. - The company says it is focused on serving AI and cloud compute customers with scalable infrastructure.

The bottom line: - Polar used a record Nordic bond to lock in capital for the next phase of its AI data centre expansion. - More information: the company’s announcement