Australian data center operator NextDC is seeking to raise AU$1.3 billion ($848.5m) to fund its expansion plans.
The company wants to raise the cash from existing investors via a share issue, which will allow its backers to purchase one new share in the company for every six they already own.
The purchase price has been set at AU$15.40 ($10.05) per share, a slight discount on the AU$16.71 ($10.91) value the company’s stock had at the end of Wednesday’s trading.
NextDC says it needs the money to continue its build-out of digital infrastructure to meet high demand. It said it expects a 71 percent jump in contracted capacity utilization this year.
The company operates or is developing data centers across Australia, including in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Port Hedland, Canberra, the Sunshine Coast, Darwin, and Adelaide.
It has six sites in Sydney alone and acquired a 13.5MW facility in the city’s Artarmon suburb last month for AU$184 million (US$121.5m). Now known as S6, NextDC claims it is “Australia's first data center designed exclusively for AI factories and sovereign AI.”
NextDC is also looking to expand internationally, with data centers in Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand in the pipeline.
Craig Scroggie, CEO of NextDC, said the company “continues to see significant growth in demand for its data center services underpinned by powerful structural tailwinds.”
Scroggie said: “Amid this backdrop, we have decided to bring forward the development and fit-out of key assets in Sydney and Melbourne to ensure we are able to meet this growth in demand, continue to support our customers, and ensure the company is well positioned to take advantage of the diverse range of opportunities expected to present over the medium term.”
Last month it was reported NextDC was in talks with Global Switch to acquire its Australian data centers. Discussions were said to be in the early stages. However, the Australian has since reported NextDC and AirTrunk have been excluded from bidding for Global Switch’s Australian assets.
