Australian pension fund leads $2 billion DataBank raising amid AI frenzy

(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.

"Our investment in DataBank comes at an exciting time in its growth trajectory with strong tailwinds across the sector, coupled with DataBank's ambitious expansion program and diverse business base," said Derek Chu, head of American Real Assets at AustralianSuper

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.

The AI frenzy, which has fuelled the rise of tech stocks across the world, has created a need to build physical centers to support the storage of data.

Global investors and asset managers have leveraged the high demand for digital infrastructure to reap profits by putting their money into the development of centres.

Southeast Asian countries have been particularly attractive given their strong growth potential, cheap labour and land.

DataBank's controlling investor, DigitalBridge, which appoints a majority of the company's board, also participated in the raising.

DataBank is planning to build three facilities in data centre areas: a 120-megawatt campus in Atlanta, a 480-megawatt campus in south Dallas and a 192-megawatt campus in Culpeper, Virginia.

Not a newcomer in the market, AustralianSuper had invested A$2.5 billion in a major European data centre business last year, alongside DigitalBridge.

($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sneha Kumar; Editing by Alan Barona)

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