AustralianSuper is making its first investment in a U.S. data center platform in a bid to capitalize on the soaring demand for cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure. As part of the superannuation fund’s A$60 billion ($40 billion) global real assets portfolio, AustralianSuper invested $1.5 billion in Dallas-based DataBank Ltd.
DataBank has about 65 data centers located in 27 markets, providing colocation, interconnection, cloud computing and storage, according to the announcement.
Last year, AustralianSuper, based in Melbourne, Australia, signed a A$2.5 billion deal with DigitalBridge Group to acquire a minority stake in Vantage Data Centers Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
The $1.5 billion allocated to DataBank will be used to expand DataBank’s footprint. It marks the super fund’s second investment alongside existing DataBank investor, DigitalBridge. The investment forms part of a $2 billion equity raise by DataBank that included more than $480 million in commitments from existing investors.
“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,” said Jason Peasley, AustralianSuper’s head of mid-risk portfolios, in a statement.
The funds are expected to back DataBank’s previously announced plans to build new facilities in Dallas, Atlanta, and Culpeper, Virginia.
“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,” DataBank CEO Raul Martynek said in the announcement.
Institutional investors are embracing enterprise data warehouse companies amid significant demand for cloud-based solutions, advanced analytics and generative artificial intelligence. Another superannuation fund, Aware Super, recently finalized its investment in Europe’s euNetworks, which provides hyperscale computing, cloud service and data center operations. Meanwhile, Macquarie Asset Management splurged $530 million on South Korean data center company Hanam Data Centre via its Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund.
This article first appeared in our sister publication, Financial Standard, which, like CIO, is owned by ISS STOXX.
Tags: Australiansuper, DataBank Ltd, DigitalBridge, Real Assets