(Bloomberg) — In July, Morgan Stanley delivered an unexpected update to four major asset managers: they had reached the final round of a highly competitive private credit deal. However, collaboration was essential to clinch it.
Morgan Stanley arranged the competition between two groups to provide approximately $29 billion to Meta Platforms Inc. for the construction of a significant data center in Louisiana, intended to support the company’s advanced AI models.
Due to the deal’s magnitude, neither Meta nor Morgan Stanley wanted to depend on a single financial institution. To enhance reliability, they assembled Pacific Investment Management Co. and Blue Owl Capital Inc. into one team, while Apollo Global Management Inc. and KKR & Co. formed another, ensuring prompt funding availability.
In early August, Morgan Stanley awarded the deal to Pimco and Blue Owl, combining a major institutional bond firm with a rapidly advancing private credit player, as reported by Bloomberg.
This decision concluded an extensive process that initiated in early 2025, shortly after a dinner hosted by Morgan Stanley to engage asset managers in the financing of AI infrastructure. Complicated negotiations persisted for about eight months, longer than anticipated.
This represented a key achievement for Pimco, who is expanding beyond public debt. Together with Morgan Stanley, they will manage $26 billion in investment-grade bonds for the Meta initiative, while Blue Owl will contribute $3 billion in equity. This deal epitomizes the significant financial implications in the escalating AI sector.
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