NextDC approved for AU$300m from NAB for future development
Australian-listed NextDC has secured AU$300 million from the National Australia Bank (NAB) to fund future growth capital expenditure for both its existing facilities and upcoming developments.
In a statement, NextDC told shareholders it agreed to the credit approved terms from NAB for the three-year syndicated senior secured debt. Subject to financial close, the new debt facilities will replace the company's existing AU$100 million undrawn senior secured debt facility provided by the bank.
The new debt facilities are subject to definitive documentation to achieve financial close, the company said, which is expected to occur by the end of August 2017, and will be drawn on once existing cash reserves have been "substantially deployed".
"When combined with the recent AU$300 million Notes III raising, the new facilities will result in NextDC having access to a total of AU$600 million of debt funding, which is a further vote of confidence in the company's credit standing and outlook," NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie said.
In September, NextDC set out to raise AU$150 million for the construction of a new datacentre in New South Wales. NextDC expects to build a new datacentre in Sydney (S2) at a cost of AU$140 million to AU$150 million across FY17 and FY18, which will include ownership of the underlying property.
NextDC secured space in Queensland's Fortitude Valley in May last year to build its AU$75 million Brisbane 2 (B2) datacentre, scheduled for completion in late 2017.
The AU$75 million includes the purchase of land, base building, and associated infrastructure to support an initial 1.5MW of IT load. At the time, NextDC said it has every intention for B2's total capacity to reach 6MW, building on a site close to a major electricity substation.
A day later, NextDC confirmed Tullamarine as the location for its AU$85 million Melbourne 2 (M2) datacentre, after executing a contract to acquire the space near one of Australia's busiest airports.
Similarly to B2, the AU$85 million investment includes the land, base building, and associated infrastructure to support the facility's initial 2MW of IT load, with the company expecting this to scale up to a target capacity of 25MW at full fit-out.
The company set out to raise AU$120 million in November 2015 to fund the construction of B2 and M2.
"Both B1 and M1 have proven to be highly successful facilities for the company in a relatively short period of time," Scroggie said previously. "We are confident that the ongoing demand in these geographies, together with our return expectations, warrants this next phase of investment in markets we know well."
NextDC updated its proposal last month to acquire remaining shares in Asia Pacific Data Centre Group (APDC), increasing its per-share price from AU$1.85 to AU$1.87.
For the first half of the 2017 financial year, NextDC reported AU$19.3 million in after-tax profit, on AU$58.7 million in revenue.