Data center developer DataBank has completed a $2B equity raise, led by a $1.5B investment from pension fund AustralianSuper.
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The capital raise will fund the build-out of more than 850 megawatts of data center capacity in the U.S., Dallas-based DataBank announced Tuesday.
AustralianSuper, the largest pension fund in Australia, will become a significant minority owner of DataBank and will join the firm’s board of directors. Digital infrastructure megafund DigitalBridge, which is already the controlling owner of DataBank, also participated in the funding round.
The expanded footprint funded by this capital will more than triple the existing 330 MW of capacity that DataBank has deployed, according to the firm. Proceeds from the raise will be used to finance growth across the developer’s footprint, and it fully funds the completion of a trio of projects DataBank has underway in Texas, Virginia and Georgia.
Last month, DataBank announced plans for its Red Oak Campus in South Dallas, a 480-MW project with up to eight two-story data centers. The firm is also planning a 120-MW campus in Atlanta on 100 acres it purchased in October 2023. A month later, DataBank acquired 85 acres in Culpeper, Virginia, for a 192-MW campus that is now in development.
DataBank operates more than 65 data centers in around 30 markets globally. But while much of the firm’s previous growth has focused on secondary edge data center markets and enterprise tenants, this latest burst of expansion has targeted hyperscale use cases in the largest primary markets.
The firm’s leadership has acknowledged this shift is meant to capture a share of the massive artificial intelligence demand wave led by the world’s largest technology companies.
“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 a statement.
With the latest capital infusion, DataBank has raised more than $4B to finance this accelerated expansion in the last 12 months. In late 2023, DataBank secured a $188M equity raise and a $345M construction loan for its project in Atlanta. This year, the firm completed a $456M securitization in February, followed by the announcement of a $725M credit facility in April.
For AustralianSuper, the DataBank deal is its first investment in the U.S. data center market. But the firm, the 16th largest pension fund in the world, isn't a newcomer to the data center space. The fund did a deal with DigitalBridge last year, investing $1.6B to take a minority stake in Vantage’s Europe, Middle East and Africa portfolio. AustralianSuper has also invested in data center assets in Australia and South America.
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