Investment will grow and further diversify
AustralianSuper's global digital infrastructure exposure and will
fund the build-out of more than 850MW of data center capacity
across DataBank's portfolio to meet accelerated demand for
enterprise, cloud, and A.I. workloads.
DALLAS, MELBOURNE,
Australia and BOCA RATON, Fla., Oct. 15,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DataBank, a leading
provider of enterprise-class edge colocation, interconnection, and
managed services, today announced a $2.0
billion equity raise led by AustralianSuper, Australia's largest superannuation fund, which
committed $1.5 billion. Upon closing
of the transaction, AustralianSuper will become a significant
minority owner of DataBank and will join the company's board of
directors.
The capital raise was oversubscribed and, in addition to the
$1.5 billion
from AustralianSuper, included another $483 million in commitments from existing
investors. The investment in DataBank would be AustralianSuper's
first in the U.S. data center market and the second alongside
existing DataBank investor DigitalBridge. AustralianSuper's global
real assets portfolio now totals nearly $40
billion, and includes digital infrastructure assets across
Australia, EMEA and South America.
Proceeds from the raise will be used to finance growth across
DataBank's industry-leading footprint of 65+ data centers in 27+
markets, including the 3 new campuses it has announced in the past
year: a 480MW campus in south Dallas, a 192MW campus in Culpeper, VA, and a 120MW campus in
Atlanta. Those sites, as well as
expansions in other markets, will add more than 850MW of power to
DataBank's portfolio, more than tripling its existing 330MW of
power deployed, and enabling it to meet unprecedented demand for
A.I., hyperscale cloud, enterprise and large technology
workloads.
"We are delighted to have AustralianSuper join our
investors," said Raul Martynek,
DataBank's CEO. "Along with the continued support of our
existing investors, it's a vote of confidence in our strategy and
our proven ability to execute and scale the DataBank platform. This
investment, and our new campuses, are a game-changer for DataBank
and our customers, allowing us to bring this capacity to market now
and seize the incredible opportunity ahead of us."
"Our investment in DataBank comes at an exciting time in its
growth trajectory with strong tailwinds across the sector, coupled
with DataBank's ambitious expansion program and diverse business
base," said Derek Chu, Head of
American Real Assets at AustralianSuper. "We're delighted to be
helping DataBank, and its experienced leadership team, capitalize
on the unprecedented demand for cloud and AI infrastructure.
DataBank will grow and further diversify our global digital
infrastructure exposure, a sector we believe will help deliver
sustainable, long-term performance for more than 3.4 million
members."
"We're thrilled to welcome AustralianSuper as a key investor
in DataBank," said Jon Mauck,
Senior Managing Director at DigitalBridge. "DataBank's proven
track record, expansion capacity, and strong leadership, position
it to take full advantage of the tremendous market opportunities in
the U.S. This investment highlights the resilience and long-term
value of digital infrastructure as an asset class."
Together with this transaction, DataBank has raised more than
$4.0 billion in debt and equity over
the past 12 months, including a $725
million credit facility announced in April 2024, a $456
million securitization completed in February 2024, a $345
million construction loan signed in November 2023, and a $188
million equity investment completed in November 2023.
BofA Securities and Citizens Capital Markets Inc. acted as
financial advisors for DataBank. Citi acted as financial advisor
for AustralianSuper. Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as
legal counsel to DataBank and Milbank LLP acted as legal counsel to
AustralianSuper.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2024 subject
to customary closing conditions.
About DataBank
DataBank helps the world's largest enterprises, technology,
and content providers ensure their data and applications are always
on, always secure, always compliant, and ready to scale to meet the
needs of the artificial intelligence era. Recognized by Deloitte in
2023 and Inc. 5000 in 2024 as one of the fastest-growing private US
companies, DataBank's edge colocation and infrastructure footprint
consists of 65+ "HPC-ready" data centers in 27+ markets, 20
interconnection hubs, and on-ramps to an ecosystem of cloud
providers with virtually unlimited reach. We combine these
platforms with contract portability, managed security, compliance
enablement, hands-on support, and a guarantee of 100% uptime
availability, to give our customers absolute confidence in their IT
infrastructure and the power to create a boundless digital future
for their business. To learn more, Follow us
on LinkedIn or Subscribe to
our YouTube channel. To tour a facility,
visit DataBank or call 1(800) 840-7533.
About AustralianSuper
AustralianSuper manages more
than $228 billion (A$342 billion) in members' retirement savings on
behalf of more than 3.4 million members from more than 478,000
businesses (as at 30 June 2024). The
Fund is an active investor across global financial markets, real
assets, private credit and private equity, with the aim of
delivering sustainable, long-term performance for its members.
AustralianSuper is the 16th largest pension fund in the
world by total assets, and the fastest-growing among the global top
20 (Thinking Ahead Institute, Global Top 300 Pension Funds, based
on 5-year CAGR 2019-2024). For more information, visit:
www.australiansuper.com
About DigitalBridge
DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG)
is a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to
investing in digital infrastructure. With a heritage of over 25
years investing in and operating businesses across the digital
ecosystem including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells
and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages over
$84 billion portfolio of digital
infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and
shareholders. For more information, visit:
www.digitalbridge.com.
References to "AustralianSuper" or "the Fund" in this document
are taken to mean AustralianSuper Pty Ltd, the AustralianSuper
superannuation fund, AustralianSuper (UK) Ltd (UK company number
09949713, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority –Reference No 741471), AustralianSuper (US) LLC (a
Delaware Limited Liability Company, file number 7398158),
AustralianSuper Research Pty Ltd (ABN 82 105 638 319, a
Beijing Representative Office) and
any/or other related bodies corporate of AustralianSuper Pty
Ltd.
Information included in this document is of a general nature
only.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the details
contained herein are correct and up-to-date, this information does
not constitute legal or other professional advice. We do not
accept any responsibility, legal or otherwise, for any error or
omission.
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SOURCE DataBank