Global investment in data centers, including M&A deals, reached a record $61 billion in the first 11 months of 2025, compared to $60.8 billion for the whole of 2024, CNBC reports, citing data from S&P Global. This was achieved with fewer transactions – 104 compared to 129 for the whole of last year. Most of the deals took place in the US, followed by the Asia-Pacific region (APAC).
Investments grew amid a “global construction boom,” S&P notes. In addition, the surge in debt financing contributed to the upturn.
According to the agency, debt issuance in the data center market in January-November amounted to $182 billion, compared to $92 billion for the whole of 2024. This included Google (owned by Alphabet Inc.) raising $29 billion, Amazon.com Inc. raising $15 billion, and Meta raising about $31 billion.
The trend toward increased borrowing has sparked investor concerns. Oracle Corp. shares fell 5% on Wednesday after media reports that Blue Owl had refused to invest in its Michigan data center amid Oracle’s growing debt. Oracle denied these reports, but after they appeared, investors began selling Broadcom, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices shares, and the Nasdaq Composite fell by a maximum of about 1.81% in a month. A week earlier, Oracle shares fell 12% after the publication of reports showing an unexpected increase in its capital expenditures.
In November, investors also actively sold shares in technology companies, fearing an AI bubble.
Yuri Struta, an analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence for the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) sectors, said his team believes market concerns about AI and Oracle are temporary.
According to experts, these fears are unlikely to have a significant impact on the construction of data center capacity and M&A in this market.
At the same time, the construction of new data centers may be temporarily limited by a shortage of energy sources, making existing centers more valuable, Struta says.
“In Europe, data center capacity is expected to be built more slowly than in other regions, but it is unclear whether this will lead to a surge in M&A activity amid a shortage of assets,” he said. Overall, the analyst expects such activity in the data center market to intensify in 2026.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the already high valuations get even higher,” he told CNBC, noting that his team expects demand for AI applications to continue growing at a rapid pace next year.
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