Blackstone is reportedly considering the sale of two of AirTrunk’s data centers in Australia.
The investment manager bought APAC operator AirTrunk in a blockbuster $16.1 billion deal last year, but is now considering parting with the firm’s facilities in Sydney and Melbourne.
Selling the two data centers could raise up to AU$4 billion ($2.6bn), which Blackstone would reinvest in AirTrunk, helping the firm expand into new markets.
News of the potential sale was reported by Bloomberg, which cites people familiar with the company’s thinking. Blackstone is said to have engaged advisors to explore the sales, but no final decision has been taken, the report said.
AirTrunk has two data centers currently operational in Sydney, and it is not clear which one would be up for sale. The company’s five-building SYD1 campus was completed in 2022, offering 130MW of capacity. Meanwhile, SYD2 offers more than 120MW across 24 data halls. The company also has a third campus in Sydney in development that could offer up to 320MW.
In Melbourne, the company operates a single data center campus. It opened in 2017, and is currently being expanded. At full build-out it will offer capacity of 185MW.
Already well established in Australia and across Asia, AirTrunk is keen to grow its empire, and in February announced it planned to build a 270MW data center campus in Johor, Malaysia.
Neither Blackstone or AirTrunk responded to Bloomberg’s requests for comment on the report.
