AustralianSuper backs Vantage Data Centers with €1.5b investment

AustralianSuper, Australia’s largest pension fund, has plans to invest €1.5 billion ($1.61 billion) to acquire a significant minority stake in Vantage Data Centers Europe, Middle East and Africa (Vantage EMEA), a DigitalBridge-sponsored company. DigitalBridge Group is a global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure.

AustralianSuper will be a key shareholder in Vantage EMEA.

Together, AustralianSuper and DigitalBridge-sponsored vehicles will support Vantage’s expansion and development of hyperscale data centers across EMEA, utilizing the company’s campus model to drive accelerated time to market while building on its long-standing customer relationships, track record of growth and next-generation infrastructure capabilities.

The investment, which represents AustralianSuper’s first significant exposure in hyperscale data centers, provides AustralianSuper with access to an attractive market with strong growth prospects.

Sureel Choksi, president and CEO of Vantage Data Centers, said, “As data center demand continues to rapidly accelerate across EMEA, this investment will fuel Vantage’s ability to accelerate the growth of our environmentally friendly, large-scale data center footprint across the region and further deepen our relationships with customers as we enable them to grow and scale their businesses with reliable, efficient and sustainable data centers. We look forward to partnering with AustralianSuper and supporting our customers’ continued growth."

Since entering the EMEA market in February 2020, Vantage EMEA has expanded to six countries and established its presence in some of the region’s most important financial and commercial hubs, including Frankfurt, Berlin, Milan, Warsaw, Johannesburg, Zurich and Cardiff (U.K.). Most recently, Vantage EMEA announced its entry into the London market with 75 megawatts of IT capacity across two campuses. Vantage EMEA has a strong focus on environmental sustainability and is committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.