Nebius Citi Loan: $3.5B Facility and Debt Profile

AMSTERDAM / LONDON (BYTEVYTE) - Nebius has signed a $3.5 billion senior secured facility with Citi, a 364-day floating-rate loan that funds GPU purchases and data center development. Announced on 22 October 2026, the Nebius Citi loan prices at Term SOFR plus 2.75%, rising to 3.50%. The company argues that its long-term customer contracts give it a healthier debt profile than CoreWeave, a claim that the share price reaction now puts under scrutiny.

Citi acted as mandated lead arranger, agent and security agent. Proceeds go to data center development, GPU procurement and general corporate purposes. Nebius says it holds more than $40 billion in long-term customer contracts with investment-grade clients. The material reviewed here does not spell out the full collateral package, so the exact role of those contracts in securing the loan cannot be confirmed.

The Nebius Citi loan against the July facility

The Citi deal is Nebius's second major borrowing in 2026. In July, the company closed a secured facility of roughly $775 million, priced at SOFR plus 2.50% and maturing on 31 October 2030, arranged through a syndicate led by MUFG. In August, Nebius also priced a $5.75 billion convertible notes offering.

The two secured deals differ sharply in structure. The Citi loan carries a margin 25 basis points wider than the July facility at entry and up to 100 basis points wider if the pricing step-up applies. Its tenor is about one year, against a July maturity more than four years away. The company is therefore taking on refinancing risk in exchange for a shorter, floating-rate commitment, and the cost of that choice depends on where SOFR moves before the loan comes due.

Market reaction points the same way. Nebius shares fell as much as 6.8% on the day of the announcement, amid wider concern about AI infrastructure debt. Rival CoreWeave's bonds have also fallen as investors question the cost of funding AI compute, which suggests the pricing pressure is sector-wide rather than specific to Nebius.

Testing the debt-profile claim against CoreWeave

The case for Nebius rests on contract quality. A pipeline of more than $40 billion in long-term agreements with investment-grade customers gives lenders a contracted revenue base that is harder to disrupt than spot compute demand. Secured lending against those cash flows is a standard tool for infrastructure borrowers.

The case against is equally specific. The new loan is floating-rate, short in tenor, and priced wider than the company's earlier secured debt. Contract backing improves recovery prospects but does not shorten the refinancing window. The material reviewed here does not include CoreWeave's debt maturities, fixed-rate share or leverage ratios, so the claim that Nebius is the stronger credit cannot be checked on a like-for-like basis. Until the comparison is made on tenor, rate exposure and collateral terms, the claim remains the company's own assessment.

Costs beyond the balance sheet

The loan finances the same kind of build-out that carries costs for people living near it. Many new AI data centers run on-site gas turbines, which are loud for nearby residents, and gas-fired power produces high CO2 emissions. Cooling these facilities also draws large volumes of water. The announcement materials reviewed here do not disclose Nebius's power sourcing, turbine use, noise controls or water consumption, so those costs remain unquantified. A financing story that omits them gives an incomplete picture of what the capacity costs to host.

Verdict and what to watch

The evidence supports Nebius on contract quality and does not yet support it on debt structure. A one-year floating-rate facility that sits beside a 2030 secured loan puts the company's funding plan on a renewal schedule. For decision-makers evaluating Nebius as a capacity provider or counterparty, the practical test is whether the 364-day loan is refinanced on terms no wider than the current 2.75% to 3.50% range. Also watch whether Nebius publishes the collateral terms and the power and water profile of its sites.

Why this matters: Compute financing is shifting toward short-dated, floating-rate debt backed by customer contracts, and the terms Nebius secures will show how far lenders trust that structure. The loan also places the build-out's local costs, which the company has not yet disclosed, next to its financial case.

While we strive for accuracy and rigor, ByteVyte can make mistakes. Readers are advised to verify all information independently and conduct due diligence before making decisions based on this reporting. We accept no liability for errors, omissions, or decisions made in reliance on this content.

Sources

Nebius Group N.V. - Form 6-K - FY2026 (Citi $3.5B senior secured facility)

Nebius Group N.V. - Form 6-K - FY2024

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Researched and cross-referenced against primary sources by the Bytevyte editorial team. This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the Bytevyte editorial team.