Australia's AirTrunk bags $3 billion green loan to expand Sydney data centre

United Overseas Bank

Tue 02:23

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Blackstone-backed BX.N AirTrunk secured a A$4.25 billion ($2.98 billion) green loan to fund the continued development of its SYD3 campus in Western Sydney, supporting the expansion of digital infrastructure in the region.
Here are some details: 
Sydney-headquartered AirTrunk said the project, one of Australia's largest hyperscale data centres, will add secure and resilient infrastructure for cloud computing, AI and other digital services used by Australian businesses, governments and communities 
A consortium of 32 local and international financial institutions backed the green loan, making it one of the largest lending groups assembled for a data centre financing in Australia, the company said
The green loan was underwritten by 14 lead banks, including DBS Bank DBSM.SI, MUFG Bank 8306.T, National Australia Bank NAB.AX , HSBC HSBA.L and UOB UOBH.SI, the data centre operator said
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation 8316.T, HSBC and UOB acted as green loan coordinators, it added
The green loan brings AirTrunk's total committed debt financing to about A$38.4 billion globally, including more than A$19.8 billion across its Australian projects
Construction of the expanded SYD3 development is expected to be completed by mid-2028, and the project is likely to support more than 10,000 jobs across construction, trades, engineering, logistics and safety
The financing comes despite growing investor caution around capital-intensive AI infrastructure projects
AirTrunk's announcement comes as Australian data centre operator NextDC NXT.AX last week said it would shelve all new development projects and land acquisitions for the foreseeable future and trimmed its revenue forecasts
Firmus, another Australian data centre operator backed by Nvidia NVDA.O , shelved its $5 billion IPO plan earlier this month as credit investors become increasingly selective toward AI-linked companies
($1 = 1.4249 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Brijesh Patel)
 ((Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com;))