HMC Capital has bought Chinese-owned Global Switch Australia, which operates two data centres in Sydney, for A$1.94bn (€1.2bn) to seed a global digital infrastructure platform.
The Sydney-based asset manager plans to rebrand Global Switch Australia as DigiCo, followed by the listing of a DigiCo Infrastructure REIT on the Australian Securities Exchange and the simultaneous launch of a new institutional unlisted fund.
HMC is undertaking a fully underwritten institutional placement to raise A$300m to part-fund the acquisition, which will mostly be funded by internal resources and debt facilities.
Managing director and CEO, David Di Pilla, said: “Digital infrastructure represents a major funds management growth opportunity for HMC, and we believe the establishment of both a listed and unlisted vehicle will enable HMC to take advantage of high-quality acquisition opportunities across the value chain to generate attractive risk adjusted returns.”
Di Pilla said the bulk of the global platform’s assets would be sourced in the US and HMC had secured or under exclusive due diligence assets, including Tier 1 hyperscale and enterprise data centres, colocation facilities and “higher returning” development opportunities.
John Corcoran, executive chairman of Global Switch Australia, said: “Global Switch Australia is very pleased with the outcome of the transaction and are proud to have created the leading carrier hotel in the Sydney City market.”
Damon Reid, CEO of Global Switch Australia, said: “This agreement marks an exciting new chapter for Global Switch Australia – which will accelerate our local investment and strategically position us for ongoing growth and improvement in the services we provide to our customers.”
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