AirTrunk raises SG$450m for new Singapore data centre

AirTrunk has announced its plans to build a hyperscale data centre in Singapore, having raised SG$450 million to kick-off the build.

The new Singapore development is part of AirTrunk's Asia-Pacific growth strategy and will see the Australian company boast three facilities in the region.

The Singapore facility will be built in Loyang, with the company saying its location is strategically near the Changi North Cable Landing Station, a key sub-sea internet landing station for international interconnection.

"The rapid growth of cloud and evolving needs of enterprises are driving demand for hyperscale capacity in the region. Singapore is a strategic data centre hub due to its economic and political stability and rich connectivity to Asia, the USA, and Europe," AirTrunk chief commercial officer and executive director Michael Juniper said.

According to the company, the new facility will be the largest neutral data centre in Singapore, with more than 60 megawatts of IT load, and is specifically designed for hyperscale cloud, content, and enterprise customers.

The facility will be serviced by multiple fibre paths and also boasts a dedicated high-voltage substation, AirTrunk said.

The debt financing was undertaken with three global financial institutions, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Natixis, with additional equity capital provided by its founder and CEO Robin Khuda, Goldman Sachs, and TPG Sixth Street Partners.

The Singapore data centre is set to be operational in mid-2020.

AirTrunk in August had announced the completion of a AU$850 million financing round to fund a major expansion of its Australian data centres in both Sydney and Melbourne.

AirTrunk opened its first Australian data centre in Western Sydney in September 2017.

The 34,500sqm data centre in Huntingwood has a total capacity of more than 90MW. It boasts 1.15 PUE, 36 data halls, 29,000sqm of technical data hall area, and 5,500sqm of office and storage area.

Phase one of the build cost the company AU$200 million.

AirTrunk then opened its second Australian data centre in November 2017, located at Derrimut in Western Melbourne, Victoria.

With a total capacity of more than 84MW of IT load across 34 data halls, the second local facility sits on top of 31,000sqm of floor space, comprised of 23,000sqm of technical data hall area and 8,000sqm of office and storage area. The company told ZDNet at the time it had invested more than AU$100 million into the facility.

AirTrunk claims the two Australian facilities will be the largest independent data centres in the Asia-Pacific region when completed, at 90MW and 84MW.

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