A&O Shearman advises on record-setting green project finance for Scala Data Centers in Chile

The financing will support the construction of three hyperscale data centers located in Curauma, Lampa, and Huechuraba, and a major power substation in Lampa, Chile. This is Scala’s first structured financing outside Brazil.

The total financing package reaches USD328m, including a local VAT bridge, marking the largest single-country project finance deal for a data center company in Latin America to date. The structure reflects Scala’s growing international footprint and its ability to unlock capital-efficient, innovative financial solutions across jurisdictions.

In line with Scala's ESG commitments, the new sites in Chile will operate with 100% certified renewable energy, zero-waste water, and best-in-class energy efficiency metrics, with design PUEs below 1.45.

With 23 MW of contracted IT capacity and an additional 30 MW contractually reserved under pre-established agreements, the deal ensures immediate deployment capacity while enabling seamless long-term scalability through embedded contractual mechanisms.

“A&O Shearman is proud to support this project, which will further position Scala as an industry leader and Chile as a key player in this innovative space,” said A&O Shearman energy, natural resources and infrastructure partner, and co-head of the Latin America practice Sami Mir. “An enterprise of this scale and innovation required a deep bench of talent across jurisdictions and practices—and as our firm has demonstrated time and again, we delivered.”

The transaction was recognized as “Digital Infrastructure Deal of the Year – Latin America” at the 2024 IJGlobal Awards in New York, an acknowledgment of its unprecedented scope, execution complexity, and impact across the region.

The A&O Shearman team was led by Washington, D.C.-based partner Sami Mir, with New York-based partner Azam Aziz advising on derivatives aspects, alongside Peter Tolson (counsel) and associates Alex Becker, Emilie Ferre, Adele Hayer, Jaime Hernandez and Bilyana Marion.