Blackstone has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire data centre operator AirTrunk for A$24 billion ($21.05 billion). This marks Blackstone’s largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region, outweighing its A$8.9 billion takeover of Australian casino operator Crown Resorts in 2022.
The American alternative investment management company, together with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, will acquire AirTrunk from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
The deal is subject to approval from the Australian foreign investment review board.
AirTrunk is present in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, with more than 800 megawatts of capacity committed to customers. Airtrunk also owns land that it claims can support over 1 gigawatt of future growth across the region.
Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer at Blackstone, says: “AirTrunk is another vital step as Blackstone seeks to be the leading digital infrastructure investor in the world across the ecosystem, including data centres, power and related services.”
Sean Klimczak, global head of Blackstone Infrastructure; and Nadeem Meghi, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate; say in a statement: “Prior to AirTrunk, Blackstone’s portfolio consisted of US$55 billion of data centres including facilities under construction, along with over US$70 billion in prospective pipeline development.”
