A consortium of investors led by Blackstone has purchased the Asia Pacific data center platform from Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and the Public Sector Pensions Investment Board (PSP Investments), for a value implied business of more than $24 billion, the fund manager said on Thursday.
“This is Blackstone at its best – leveraging our global platform to capitalize on our most compelling theme,” Gray said.
Digital infrastructure has seen unprecedented demand recently, driven by the AI revolution as well as the broader digitalization of the global economy.
There is expected to be approximately $1 trillion in capital spending in the United States over the next five years to build and facilitate new data centers, and another $1 trillion in spending investment outside the United States.
Blackstone plans to capitalize on this movement, while helping to meet the sector’s immense energy needs, including as an investor in power and utility companies.
Commenting on the significance of the AirTrunk deal, Sean Klimczak, Global Head of Blackstone Infrastructure, and Nadeem Meghji, Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, said: “Prior to AirTrunk, Blackstone’s portfolio consisted of $55 billion American data centers, including facilities. under construction, as well as more than US$70 billion in potential pipeline development.”
“We look forward to partnering with AirTrunk’s excellent management team to further accelerate its growth.”
The consortium, comprised of Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Blackstone’s private equity strategy for individual investors, as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is now waiting as the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board greenlights the deal – believed to be Blackstone’s largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
In a separate statement, MAM and PSP Investments said the agreement involves the sale of their entire respective stakes totaling 88 percent of AirTrunk.
As part of the transaction, AirTrunk founder and CEO Robin Khuda will also realize a portion of his stake.
“The AirTrunk story is one of a true partnership between MAM, PSP Investments and the world-class AirTrunk team,” said Ani Satchcroft, co-head of infrastructure for Asia Pacific at MAM.
“Our journey with AirTrunk, along with the drive and foresight of our teams in Asia Pacific, has enabled AirTrunk to expand its presence in key markets across the region, achieving an eight-fold increase in contracted capacity.”
MAM confirmed that Khuda, who founded AirTrunk in 2015, will remain with the company as CEO.
AirTrunk is the largest data center platform in the Asia-Pacific region, with a significant presence in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. It has more than 800 MW of capacity reserved for customers and owns land that can support more than 1 GW of future growth in the region.
