(Reuters) – U.S.-based data center developer DataBank has raised nearly A$3 billion ($2.01 billion) in a bid to build three planned facilities across the United States, with pension fund AustralianSuper leading the raise.
AustralianSuper, the country’s largest pension fund, on Wednesday said it had committed A$2.2 billion to DataBank’s raising and would emerge as a minority owner of the U.S.-based firm. The pension fund would also appoint a company’s board director.
The raising is the latest sign of growing investor appetite in artificial intelligence, which in turn has resulted in a boost for data centre proposals.
Deals in the data centre space have increased globally due to the growing popularity of AI with Blackstone’s A$24 billion acquisition of Australian AirTrunk in the spotlight.
DataBank’s controlling investor, DigitalBridge, which appoints a majority of the company’s board, also participated in the raising.
($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar; Editing by Alan Barona)
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