Australia’s NEXTDC plans to raise $500 million to tap AI boom via Asian expansion

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(Reuters) – Australian data centre operator NEXTDC said on Tuesday it was looking to raise a total of A$750 million ($500.33 million) to expand its data centre pipeline in Asia, tapping further into the global artificial intelligence frenzy.

“NEXTDC continues to see opportunity in the growing cloud and AI-led demand for digital infrastructure throughout its core Asian markets, which it believes creates strong tailwinds for NEXTDC”, the firm said in a statement.

NEXTDC said the capital raising will be done through a placement of A$550 million and a share purchase plan capped at A$200 million, with the placement priced at A$17.15 per share.

The price represents a discount of 3.9% to Tuesday’s close.

Countries and companies are showing growing interest and demand for data centres across the Asia Pacific as the AI boom fuels demand for digital infrastructure.

In a similar move earlier this month, Blackstone announced its largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region in an A$24 billion deal to buy Australian data centre group AirTrunk.

The data centre operator also revised upwards its capital expenditure guidance for fiscal 2025 to a range of A$1.3 billion to A$1.5 billion on Tuesday, from the previous forecast of A$900 million to A$1.1 billion.

($1 = 1.4990 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)