AI Data Centre Deals Hit a Wall as Selloff and Rising Rates Bite

Updated 13:10 UTC

A market selloff is forcing the companies behind the global AI buildout to delay fundraising or pay more for capital, as investors demand proof they can absorb rising interest rates and the rising cost of computing power.

Reuters reported on Thursday, Oct. 15, that listings for three major projects have been pulled or paused in the past week alone. They are a Blackstone backed AirTrunk real estate investment trust in Singapore, Nvidia backed Firmus, and SoftBank backed SB Energy. The setbacks came as AI related stocks weakened and the debt of data centre operator CoreWeave slid toward distressed prices.

Listings pulled, a REIT delayed to 2027

AirTrunk had planned to gauge investor interest in early October for a Singapore REIT listing that could raise about 1.5 billion dollars. Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, reported by Forbes, CNBC TV18 and other outlets on Oct. 13, said the listing is now delayed to early next year, with one report putting it in the first or second quarter of 2027, as higher rates and volatility cooled demand. Firmus cancelled its planned Australian listing last week and, according to reports citing the Wall Street Journal, now plans to raise money privately and list in the United States next year. SB Energy delayed its listing after pushback on valuation.

CoreWeave shows the strain

CoreWeave has become the clearest sign of the strain. Reuters reported its shares fell more than 15 percent on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and fell again in premarket trade on Thursday, while the yield on its bonds due in 2031 rose past 16 percent, a level that usually signals distress. The loss making company carries about 50 billion dollars in debt. Its chief executive told staff the market was acting irrationally and said its deal backlog covers its debt obligations, in a memo reported by Bloomberg and carried by The Hindu BusinessLine on Oct. 15.

The wider rout started with hot United States inflation data for September. That lifted bets on more Federal Reserve rate hikes and hit the debt heavy firms that borrow to buy chips and build data centres first and hardest.

Deals are record sized, equity is not

The slowdown is in equity, not in deals overall. Mergers and acquisitions involving Asian data centres reached 21.3 billion dollars as of Tuesday, according to Dealogic data cited by Reuters, more than double the 10 billion dollars recorded in all of 2025, and still on track for a record year. Syndicated loans and bond issuance for the sector totalled 22.3 billion dollars so far this year. Equity fundraising, by contrast, fell to 5.4 billion dollars, down 4.6 percent from the same period in 2025.

Lawyers and advisers told Reuters the scrutiny is not ending investment in the sector. Harry Evans, a partner at Freshfields, said the focus has shifted from growth at any cost to quality, and that deal activity could hold up through next year on a strong pipeline. The difference now, analysts said, is that investors are separating firms by business model, leverage and execution risk, and are far less willing to pay for plans that rest on future earnings alone.

For readers, the test is simple. The biggest, profitable cloud firms can still fund the buildout from their own earnings. The firms below them, borrowing heavily to buy fast ageing chips, face a higher bill every time rates rise.