Global investment titan Blackstone has snapped up Australian data centre giant AirTrunk for a whopping $23.5 billion. The deal, which marks the largest corporate transaction in Australia this year, underscores the insatiable appetite for data centres as artificial intelligence continues to reshape the technological landscape.
AirTrunk founder Robin Khuda, a self-made billionaire, is set to rake in more than $500 million from the sale. The deal comes just a few years after Khuda, who arrived in Australia from Bangladesh as a university student, sold a majority stake in AirTrunk to Macquarie and Canada's PSP Investments.
Blackstone's acquisition of AirTrunk is the biggest data centre deal globally. The sector has experienced exponential growth as tech giants like Amazon and Google scramble to build out their cloud computing infrastructure to support AI-powered applications. These applications, from language models to image generation, require vast amounts of data storage and processing power.
The deal is expected to trigger a substantial performance fee for ASX-listed Macquarie Group, which managed the fund that sold its stake in AirTrunk. Industry analysts anticipate the fee to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The sale of AirTrunk has also sparked interest in other Australian data centre companies, including NextDC and Macquarie Technology Group. However, experts caution that it may be difficult to assess the impact on their valuations without a detailed look at AirTrunk's financial performance.
The acquisition of AirTrunk by Blackstone is a major win for the Australian tech industry, which has been increasingly attracting global investment. The deal also highlights the growing importance of data centres as the backbone of the digital economy.
As AI continues to evolve, the demand for data centres is expected to remain strong. This presents a significant opportunity for companies like AirTrunk to expand their operations and capitalise on the growing market.
