> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.sotkn.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Nebius takes a $3.5B, 364-day Citi bridge to fund GPUs - URL: https://www.sotkn.com/wire/nebius-3-5b-citi-364-day-bridge-gpus-wire/ - Published: 2026-10-23T23:42:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T23:42:52.000Z - Description: Nebius signed a $3.5 billion secured bridge loan from Citi on 17 October to fund GPUs and data centers. It matures in 364 days at a margin that rises every 90 days, and the planned take-out is asset-backed debt on contracts that only finance as capacity is delivered. - Author: Sean - Tags: #desk-wire `WIRE` · `NEOCLOUDS` · `NETHERLANDS` · Data as at 23 Oct 2026 Nebius has borrowed for a year to buy GPUs it expects to finance for longer later. On **22 October 2026** the Amsterdam-based AI cloud company said it had signed a **$3.5 billion** senior secured facility with Citi. Its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission calls it a bridge: it matures on **16 October 2027**, **364 days** after signing, and its interest margin rises every 90 days. The money goes to data center build-out and GPU purchases. The planned take-out is asset-backed debt against more than **$40 billion** of long-term contracts with investment-grade customers such as Microsoft and Meta. On the [Neoclouds layer](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/neoclouds/), that is cash for GPUs today and a refinancing that depends on delivered capacity. ## What happened The loan **$3.5 billion senior secured term loan from Citi, signed 17 October and announced 22 October** Citibank is lead arranger and lender. The borrowers are Nebius Group, its US unit and its Dutch unit The price **Term SOFR plus 2.75%, stepping up 0.25 points every 90 days to a 3.50% cap** It can be prepaid without penalty. The step-ups reward refinancing it early The security **Substantially all of each borrower's assets, including the shares of the US and Dutch units** It carries a minimum liquidity covenant. Nebius also has about $10 billion of convertible bonds outstanding The take-out **Asset-backed debt on more than $40 billion of investment-grade customer contracts** Its chief operating officer, Ophir Nave, called it sequencing: this loan funds near-term capacity, larger financing comes later ## Why cash cares A bridge loan is a bet on the next loan. Nebius's own template for that next loan is the **$775 million** facility it signed in July, its first secured debt. That deal was priced at SOFR plus 2.50%, runs to October 2030, and is backed by GPUs already deployed and by cash flows from an investment-grade customer. Nebius said at the time that the contract was in its servicing phase. In other words, the cheaper, longer money arrived after the racks were installed and the customer was paying. The Citi loan works the other way round. It pays for GPUs and halls before they earn, on a one-year clock. So the $40 billion of contracts only becomes collateral as each block of capacity is built, handed over and billed. Until then, Nebius carries short secured debt at a rising margin. It is borrowing into a hard market. CNBC reported on 23 October that Nebius, CoreWeave and IREN shares had each fallen more than 30% in October, and that CoreWeave's unsecured 2031 and 2032 notes yielded above 15%. Two days earlier, Nebius's chief revenue officer told CNBC that computing prices were rising faster than expected and that its 2027 capacity would sell out if it came online. Here is our own arithmetic, not a company figure. The margin starts at **2.75%**, moves to **3.00%** on about 15 January 2027, **3.25%** on about 15 April and hits the **3.50%** cap on about 14 July. If the full $3.5 billion were drawn for the whole year, the margin alone, before SOFR and fees, would cost about **$109 million**, an average of about **3.13%**. At the start it costs **$96 million** a year. At the cap it is **$122.5 million** a year. Each 0.25-point step adds about **$8.75 million** a year. Against the July deal, the margin is 0.25 points higher at the start and a full point higher at the cap. The loan is about **8.75%** of the $40 billion contract figure. With the July facility, Nebius's secured debt comes to about **$4.3 billion**, and about **$14 billion** of debt in all with the convertibles. The filing does not say how much has been drawn. ![Nebius's Citi bridge: the margin climbs every 90 days](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/10/cd10e222-131f-4ba4-b4a9-ca4214e8c12d/content/images/2026/10/nebius-citi-bridge-margin-clock-print.png) **Figure: The clock on the bridge.** The margin over SOFR on Nebius's $3.5 billion Citi facility in each 90-day period to maturity, set against the July asset-backed facility. Step dates, the margin cost and the ratios are our arithmetic on Nebius's filing of 22 October 2026. ## The step that is still open Delivered capacity. The cheaper money needs GPUs installed in powered halls and customers paying for them, because that is what an asset-backed lender lends against. Nebius has to turn enough of its contract book into running, billed capacity, and raise the long-dated debt on it, before 16 October 2027, or refinance the bridge some other way. Some of its newest capacity lands later than that. The [50 MW it pencilled in at a Saudi data center](https://www.sotkn.com/wire/nebius-50-mw-saudi-oxagon-data-center-framework-wire/) starts phasing in from the fourth quarter of 2027. Cash is in hand. A one-year loan is a gap to cross, not the end of it. The contracts are signed. They do not fund the bridge until the halls they cover are running. ## The second-order read **Who gets paid.** Citi, first: a secured lender on substantially all the borrowers' assets, at a margin that rises the longer the loan stays out. Nvidia, server makers and the landlords building Nebius's halls, from the proceeds. **Who pays.** Nebius, in interest that climbs every 90 days, until the take-out is done. Its customers pay later, as each tranche of capacity goes live. **Who waits.** The unsecured convertible holders, who now sit behind a secured lender on the pledged assets. The $40 billion contract book, which turns into financeable cash flow only tranche by tranche. **Stuck step.** Building, handing over and billing enough capacity to raise asset-backed debt before the bridge falls due. ## Three cautions The drawn amount is not given. The filing describes a $3.5 billion facility but not how much is borrowed today, so the interest figures above are a ceiling, not a bill. The $40 billion is not new. Nebius cited more than $40 billion of contracts in July as well. It has not said how much of it is already delivered or already pledged. Other levers exist. Nebius points to customer prepayments and operating cash flow, and the loan can be repaid early without penalty. A bridge is not a sign of distress on its own. ## What to watch - **15 January 2027**: the first margin step, to 3.00%. An asset-backed deal before then would cap the cost. - **Nebius next quarterly results**: watch drawn debt, delivered capacity and prepayments. - **Asset-backed financing**: the size, lenders and price of the take-out deal against the contract book. - **Neocloud credit**: CoreWeave bond yields and spreads as a read on what this kind of debt costs. - **16 October 2027**: maturity of the bridge. *Read: [Neoclouds](https://www.sotkn.com/stack/neoclouds/), [who are the neoclouds](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/who-are-the-neoclouds/), [data center financing explained](https://www.sotkn.com/explained/data-center-financing-explained/) and [Nvidia's $56B of neocloud commitments](https://www.sotkn.com/wire/nvidia-56b-neocloud-commitments-shakeout-wire/)* --- **Get the Wire.** A free brief every day, here and in your inbox. **[Subscribe free →](https://www.sotkn.com/#/portal/signup)** Not investment advice. Do your own research. The margin step dates, the $109 million, $96 million, $122.5 million and $8.75 million figures, the 3.13% average, the 8.75% ratio and the debt totals are our arithmetic. ## References 1. [Nebius Group, Form 6-K, "Credit Facility"](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1513845/000110465926117978/tm2628078d1%5F6k.htm?ref=sotkn.com), 22 Oct 2026\. Bridge Facility Agreement, $3.5 billion, margin steps, 16 October 2027 maturity, security, covenant. 2. [Nebius, "Nebius secures $3.5 billion financing facility with Citi"](https://nebius.com/newsroom/nebius-secures-3-5-billion-financing-facility-with-citi?ref=sotkn.com), 22 Oct 2026\. Use of proceeds, sequencing, more than $40 billion of contracts. 3. [Reuters via StreetInsider, "Nebius gets $3.5 billion Citi facility for data center growth"](https://www.streetinsider.com/Reuters/Nebius+gets+%243.5+billion+Citi+facility+for+data+center+growth/27218830.html?ref=sotkn.com), 22 Oct 2026\. Microsoft and Meta as customers, about $10 billion of convertibles. 4. [Nebius, "Nebius raises $775 million in first secured debt financing"](https://nebius.com/newsroom/nebius-raises-775-million-in-first-secured-debt-financing-to-accelerate-global-buildout?ref=sotkn.com), 17 Jul 2026\. July asset-backed terms, servicing phase. 5. [CNBC, "Turmoil hits AI build-out as neoclouds face pressure"](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/23/ai-turmoil-neoclouds-struggle-credit-risks-jump-solidigm-pulls-ipo.html?ref=sotkn.com), 23 Oct 2026\. October share falls, CoreWeave note yields. 6. [CNBC, "Nebius says AI computing prices are rising"](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/21/nebius-ai-computing-nvidia-gpu-prices.html?ref=sotkn.com), 21 Oct 2026\. Pricing and 2027 capacity comments.