Macquarie Capital has invested in Asia-Pacific data centre platform Zerra DC, which has a current development pipeline comprising more than 2GW of planned IT capacity across Australia, Japan and India.
One of Zerra DC’s projects is the Western Downs Digital Park in Queensland, Australia, with a completed value of A$30bn (€1.86bn) and which has recently secured a long-term lease agreement with Anthropic.
The size of the Macquarie commitment was not disclosed. AGP, a global real assets investor and manager which founded the platform, remains the majority shareholder of the fully integrated hyperscale data centre developer and operator.
It is the fifth investment by Macquarie Capital’s principal investment business since April, bringing its total digital infrastructure investments to a dozen.
Ivan Varughese, senior managing director at Macquarie Capital, said: “The growth of AI and cloud services is driving demand for larger, well-planned and sustainable data centre campuses across Asia-Pacific.
“Meeting that demand requires teams that can bring together communities, customers, power and development capability at scale. Zerra has assembled an impressive team and a high-quality project pipeline in several key data centre markets.
“Over its 20-year investment history, Macquarie Capital has built extensive experience developing, investing in and scaling critical infrastructure and renewable energy assets across Asia-Pacific. That combination makes us an ideal partner to support Zerra’s growth ambitions as demand for digital infrastructure at the intersection of power and sustainability continues to accelerate.”
Kristian Steffensen, co-founder and executive director of Zerra, said: “Macquarie Capital’s investment in Zerra is a significant milestone for our team and the business. Our ambition is to be the infrastructure partner of choice for the world’s fastest-scaling technology businesses.
“Our customers are making substantial, long-term commitments to infrastructure. They need partners who can bring together the sites, power, delivery capability and operational expertise to support them over decades.
“Macquarie Capital brings significant experience in backing and growing digital infrastructure businesses and its investment will help us strengthen our delivery and operating capabilities across our projects in Australia, Japan and India.”
Dave Cooper, CEO of Zerra, said: “Responsible development means addressing energy efficiency, water use and community needs from the outset.”
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