DataBank has completed a $2 billion equity raise led by Australian superannuation fund, AustralianSuper.

AustralianSuper has committed $1.5bn in equity which will see it become a significant minority owner of DataBank and join the company's board of directors.

databank ashburn
A DataBank data center in Ashburn, Virginia – Google Maps

An additional $483 million has been raised in commitments from existing investors.

The funding will be used to finance DataBank's growth, including the three campuses announced this year: a 480MW campus in South Dallas, Texas; a 192MW campus in Culpeper, Virginia; and a 120MW in Atlanta, Georgia.

Those sites, combined with expansions in other markets, are set to increase DataBank's capacity by more than 850MW. The company currently has 330MW of IT capacity deployed.

"We are delighted to have AustralianSuper join our investors," said Raul Martynek, DataBank's CEO. "Along with the continued support of our existing investors, it's a vote of confidence in our strategy and our proven ability to execute and scale the DataBank platform. 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."

The investment in DataBank marks AustralianSuper's first foray into the US data center market.

"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.

"We're delighted to be helping DataBank, and its experienced leadership team, capitalize on the unprecedented demand for cloud and AI infrastructure. DataBank will grow and further diversify our global digital infrastructure exposure, a sector we believe will help deliver sustainable, long-term performance for more than 3.4 million members."

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to customary closing conditions.

BofA Securities and Citizens Capital Markets Inc. acted as financial advisors for DataBank, while Citi acted as the financial advisor for AustralianSuper. Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to DataBank and Milbank LLP acted as legal counsel to AustralianSuper.

Including this latest funding, DataBank has now raised more than $4 billion in debt and equity over the past year, including a $725m credit facility in April 2024, a $456 million securitization completed in February 2024, and $533m in November 2023.

DataBank currently has more than 65 high-performance compute-ready data centers in 27 markets. The company was originally founded in 2005 in Texas before being acquired by Digital Bridge Holdings from private equity firm Avista Capital Partners in 2016. Colony Capital acquired Digital Bridge for $325 million in 2019 and took the company’s name in 2021.

Other investors in the company include Swiss Life Asset Management AG, EDF Invest, Northleaf Capital Partners, Ardian, and the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario.

AustralianSuper has previously invested in DigitalBridge-owned Vantage Data Centers. The superannuation fund paid €1.5 billion ($1.6bn) to acquire a "significant minority stake" in Vantage's EMEA business. It is also a majority owner of Australia Tower Network.