Infrastructure
| Sector | Infrastructure |
| Sub-sector | Digital infrastructure |
| Location | Asia-Pacific |
Anticipating the significant potential of cloud-based platforms, AirTrunk pioneered Australia’s first and largest hyperscale data centre in 2017 and has since grown to provide scalable and sustainable data centre solutions in five countries across Asia-Pacific, which support some of the world’s most transformational companies.
Leveraging more than 20 years of investing in digital infrastructure, Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) recognised the growing need to deliver essential digital services to communities across the region. MAM identified strong investment fundamentals underpinning the data centre sector, with rapid growth being driven by increasing data consumption and adoption of cloud applications, the shift from internal IT infrastructure to outsourced resources and the rise of AI.
AirTrunk’s hyperscale campus SYD1, located in Sydney’s West, has a total capacity of +130 MW
At acquisition, AirTrunk had five data centres – in Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong – with a portfolio capacity of 450 MW. Following the acquisition, MAM supported AirTrunk’s management team in identifying new areas and markets to scale the business further.
MAM leveraged sector expertise gained from investing in data centres in other regions and its experience operating in Asia Pacific for more than 30 years, to support the growth of AirTrunk during its ownership. This included expertise in geographic expansion, leading its move into Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, contracting, capital structuring, work health and safety, and corporate governance. Elevating its environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, MAM and PSP Investments worked with AirTrunk to introduce initiatives including a sustainability linked loan – the largest by a data centre operator globally at the time2 – and a target to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 through both AirTrunk and customer procurement.3
MAM worked alongside AirTrunk management to introduce a target of achieving 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030
Outcome
Over the investment period, AirTrunk expanded to 11 sites across the region, including entry into new markets in Japan and Malaysia. Capacity across the portfolio increased from 450 MW to over 1.8 GW, with a strong growth pipeline.
In September 2024, MAM via its managed fundand PSP Investments agreed to sell their interests in AirTrunk to Blackstone in a deal that implied an enterprise value of over $A24 billion.2
The outcome reflects MAM’s ability to identify, invest in, and nurture digital infrastructure assets that are resilient, scalable and pivotal in meeting the burgeoning demand for data, cloud services and the adoption of AI.
It also highlights MAM’s expertise in finding the right investments by looking to where communities are heading, and executing successful divestment strategies.
MAM continues to invest across the digital ecosystem, leveraging its knowledge in interconnected sectors to address unmet community need. It currently has 1.5 GW of contracted hyperscale data centre capacity and over 5 GW of total planned capacity within its portfolio.
With investments in data centres across the globe, MAM’s industry learnings are being applied to assets across the digital ecosystem. These include:
Over MAM’s investment period, AirTrunk expanded to 11 sites across Asia-Pacific, including into Japan with TOK1 – a hyperscale data centre with a total capacity of +300 MW
AirTrunk’s portfolio capacity (at sale)
AirTrunk sites across Asia Pacific (at sale)
increase in contracted capacity (at sale)
