Infratil signals A$50m investment in Canberra Data Centres

Infratil signals A$50m investment in Canberra Data Centres

By Gavin Evans

Dec. 14 (BusinessDesk) - Infratil says it expects to invest up to another A$50 million in Canberra Data Centres to help fund its on-going growth.

The data business, which Infratil bought into in 2016, has just acquired the Eastern Creek data centre in Western Sydney from DXC Technology. The site covers 145,000 square-metres and provides scope for progressive expansion over time.

The transaction has been funded with a combination of debt and equity from its existing shareholders – Infratil and the Commonwealth Superannuation Corp, with 48 percent each, and management.

Infratil said the shareholders are reviewing the appropriate medium-term capital structure, given the DXC transaction and strong organic growth in Canberra where CDC has started work on its sixth data centre. It expects to commit up to A$50 million into CDC during the next 12 months.

Wellington-based Infratil paid $412 million for its stake in CDC in 2016. It wants to profit from the increasing digitisation of services and the world’s growing need to manage the data being created, particularly for government and nationally critical infrastructure operators.

The business contributed more than $30 million to Infratil’s first-half operating earnings, almost twice that a year earlier. Faster than expected growth will see CDC’s annual earnings exceed A$110 million by 2020, Infratil said last month.

Infratil said the Sydney acquisition would enable CDC to meet demand from existing customers for a data facility outside Canberra. The centre's expansion would cater for new customers

“In this way CDC will continue to follow its strategy of providing highly secure, reliable and flexible data centre services to leading government and commercial clients across broader geographies.”

(BusinessDesk)

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