APAC data center firm AirTrunk has been acquired by Blackstone for US$16.1 billion, making it the largest-ever deal in the space.
Funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, and Blackstone’s private equity strategy for individual investors, along with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP), have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AirTrunk from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
The deal has an implied enterprise value of over AU$24 billion (US$16.11bn) - making it the largest ever deal for a data center company. The transaction is subject to approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.
APAC-focused operator AirTrunk was founded in 2016 with plans to develop hyperscale data centers in Australia. The company opened its first facility in Sydney in 2017, and has since expanded across the region, operating and developing campuses in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Jon Gray, president and COO of Blackstone, said: “This is Blackstone at its best – leveraging our global platform to capitalize on our highest conviction theme. AirTrunk is another vital step as Blackstone seeks to be the leading digital infrastructure investor in the world across the ecosystem, including data centers, power, and related services.”
Robin Khuda, founder and CEO of AirTrunk, said: “This transaction evidences the strength of the AirTrunk platform in a strong-performing sector as we capture the next wave of growth from cloud services and AI and support the energy transition in Asia Pacific. We look forward to working with Blackstone and CPP Investments and benefitting from their scale capital, sector expertise, and valuable network across the various local markets, which will help support the continued expansion of AirTrunk.”
Macquarie and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) collectively owned 88 percent of AirTrunk - with the former the majority owner. A group led by Macquarie took control of the company in 2020 in a deal that valued it at about AU$3 billion ($1.96bn). Macquarie's own announcement of the deal noted that CEO Khuda will also realize part of his stake.
DCD reported in January that AirTrunk was up for sale, with Macquarie and PSP having decided to dispose of their asset after shelving a previous plan for an IPO. Blackstone registered an interest in buying the company a month later. Silver Lake, DigitalBridge, IFM Investors, GIP, and Brookfield were previously said to be interested in the company.
Blackstone, which also owns US operator QTS, said the deal represents Blackstone’s largest investment in the Asia Pacific region. Blackstone launched Asia-focused data center firm Lumina CloudInfra in 2022.
CPP has previously invested in a number of data center funds and joint ventures, including several in Asia.
Sandiren Curthan, MD and global head of infrastructure investments at PSP Investments said: “Our successful collaboration with MAM and the AirTrunk management team has enabled AirTrunk to become a market-leading independent hyperscale data center platform in Asia-Pacific from a customer experience, operational, and sustainability standpoint.
Ani Satchcroft, co-head of infrastructure for Asia Pacific at MAM, added: “The AirTrunk story is one of genuine partnership between MAM, PSP Investments, and AirTrunk’s world-class team. Our journey with AirTrunk, and the drive and foresight of our teams in Asia Pacific, has resulted in AirTrunk expanding its footprint across key markets in the region, achieving a more than eightfold increase in contracted capacity."
Prior to this deal, KKR and GIP's 2021 acquisition of CyrusOne for $15 billion was the largest-ever acquisition of a data center operator.
