AirTrunk raises A$4.25 billion to expand data center in western Sydney
Key Facts
AirTrunk said on October 27 that it had secured a A$4.25 billion green loan to continue developing its SYD3 campus in western Sydney. The company said the project would add capacity for cloud computing, artificial intelligence and enterprise services. It expects the project to support more than 10,000 jobs in construction, trades, engineering, logistics and safety. The financing concludes negotiations that reports in June said were under way for a loan of about A$4.3 billion, when the deal’s terms had not yet been settled. The deal also adds to the company’s balance sheet, lifting its total global committed debt financing to about A$38.4 billion.
A total of 32 local and international financial institutions supported the loan, with 14 acting as mandated lead arrangers. The underwriting group included National Australia Bank, ING, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Mizuho, Mitsubishi UFJ, Royal Bank of Canada, Santander, Société Générale and HSBC. The group also included Crédit Agricole, DBS, Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho Sumitomo and United Overseas. The broad participation underscores the scale of financing required to develop digital infrastructure at the site. The loan is part of a broader expansion by the company in Australia, where it continues to rely on debt financing for its projects.
The facilities were structured as a green loan with adjustments to the interest margin, and AirTrunk said any contributions generated from margin savings would go to its social impact program. The program supports local charities working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, digital equity, biodiversity and conservation, sustainable innovation and disaster relief. The company said the financing supports its goal of reaching net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030, while gradually reducing Scope 3 emissions. At the SYD3 site, construction measures include using lower-carbon steel and concrete. The company also aims to divert at least 90% of non-hazardous construction waste from landfill.
The figures disclosed show the scale of the Australian platform, which comprises five campuses with capacity exceeding 1.2 gigawatts. AirTrunk said it has invested more than A$12 billion in its Australian projects to date and plans to invest a further A$75 billion over the next decade. Following the new loan, committed debt financing for its Australian projects exceeds A$19.8 billion. The company is owned by funds managed by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which announced an agreement in 2024 to acquire it at an enterprise value exceeding A$24 billion. Blackstone said at the time that the deal was its largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region.
Work on the SYD3 expansion, which the company expects to complete by mid-2028, is being led by contractor A.W. Edwards. The project comes as the Sydney region, particularly its west, sees an unprecedented concentration of proposed data center demand, according to electricity network operator Transgrid. Transgrid said in August that available capacity on the transmission network was largely exhausted. It added that connecting new data centers in the Sydney basin could proceed only after grid upgrades funded by the beneficiaries were completed. These requirements make electricity network expansion one of the local factors affecting the development of new data centers.
On suppliers, AirTrunk said it worked with 1,436 supplier entities in the Asia-Pacific region during fiscal 2026, including 615 suppliers in Australia. Australian suppliers generated A$3.4 billion in activity during the period. Company Vice President Tom McLellor said SYD3 was “a long-term investment in western Sydney and Australia’s digital capability.” He added that the expansion builds a regional network of workers, contractors and businesses. The company thereby links construction of the new campus with economic activity extending across its local supplier chain.