AustralianSuper acquires stake in U.S. firm DataBank

AustralianSuper has committed $1.5 billion and become a “significant” minority owner in DataBank, a data center provider in North America.

The investment marks the $228 billion superannuation fund’s first foray into the U.S. data center space, the pension fund said a recent news release.

The $1.5 billion commitment by AustralianSuper was part of a total of almost $2 billion raised by DataBank, proceeds of which will be used to “fund the build-out of more than 850MW of data center capacity across DataBank’s portfolio to meet accelerated demand for enterprise, cloud, and A.I. workloads,” the release noted.

Another $483 million in commitments came from existing investors.
Upon closing of the transaction, AustralianSuper will join the company’s board of directors.

Including Databank, AustralianSuper’s global real assets portfolio now totals nearly $40 billion, and includes digital infrastructure assets across Australia, EMEA and South America.

“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, in the release. “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.”

A spokesperson for AustralianSuper commented that DataBank will add “geographic and customer diversification, having invested in Vantage Data Centers EMEA last year which focuses on hyperscaler clients.”

The U.S. real assets team will continue to “target large-scale, long-term investment opportunities across the infrastructure spectrum, including digital infrastructure, energy transition, mixed use estates, toll roads and transport logistics,” the spokesperson added.

With about half of AustralianSuper's $228 billion in total member assets currently invested outside of Australia, including more than $68 billion in North America, the spokesperson noted, the “continued growth of the U.S. team demonstrates the fund's commitment to further developing and successfully implementing its international investment model.”

Indeed, North America is “a hub for our private markets investment activity,” the spokesperson noted. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

AustralianSuper currently has 60 employees in the U.S. and that figure is expected to double by 2026, with most of this staff based at the New York headquarters, the spokesperson added.