Sale-leaseback

A sale-leaseback is a transaction in which a data center operator sells a facility it owns to an investor — typically a REIT, infrastructure fund or private equity buyer — and simultaneously signs a long-term lease to keep operating it, converting a capital asset into upfront cash while retaining operational control. Operators use the structure to fund new construction without raising debt or diluting equity, while buyers get a stabilized, often triple-net-leased asset backed by a long-dated contract tied to a specific tenant's credit profile. The mechanism has become more common in colocation and hyperscale campuses as capital needs for AI-driven buildouts have grown, with several billion-dollar sale-leaseback deals involving hyperscale campuses reported industry-wide in 2024-2026 as operators sought off-balance-sheet financing for expansion.