Two platforms dominate operating capacity, AirTrunk and CDC, with NEXTDC the listed third; shares are triangulated and no audited series exists
AirTrunk and CDC dominate operating capacity with NEXTDC the listed third, and no audited share-of-megawatts series exists, so the shares here are triangulated and say so. Plus Equinix, DigiCo, DCI and Macquarie Data Centres.
Indicative capacity by operator, MW: Australia only, mixed bases
| Item | Value ( MW) |
|---|---|
| CDC Data Centres (AU) | 574 |
| AirTrunk (Australia) AirTrunk pages and release | 500 |
| NEXTDC (AU built) NEXTDC FY26 results (27 Aug 2026) | 278 |
| Hyperscaler self-builds | 150 |
| Stack Infrastructure | 72 |
| DigiCo | 57 |
AirTrunk conflict, not resolved (pages retrieved 21 Sep 2026): campus pages 835+ MW, 1,189+ with MEL2; Australia page 755+ MW; 24 Dec 2025 release 'more than 1.2 GW'. None defined or stated as operating.
Triangulating disclosed figures
| Operator | MW | Basis (register item 1) |
|---|---|---|
| CDC Data Centres | 574 | AU operating, 31 Mar 2026: Canberra 156, Sydney 237, Melbourne 181 (reported; excludes Auckland 98) |
| AirTrunk AirTrunk pages and release | ~500 | inashanu low-end operating est.; operator publishes three conflicting AU totals (note at left); SYD3 ~330 MW operating (ITK) |
| NEXTDC NEXTDC FY26 results (27 Aug 2026) | 278 | AU built capacity, 30 Jun 2026 (reported; 288 incl. KL1); billing 175.0 MW |
| Hyperscaler self-builds | ~100-200 | AWS / Microsoft / Google combined (~150, est.) |
| Stack Infrastructure | 72 | MEL01 A+B operating (reported) |
| DigiCo | ~57 | SYD1 26 MW to 88 MW on completion (mid-point est.) |
| Equinix | n/d | 18 facilities; MW undisclosed |
The big three: ~65-75% of third-party MW (inashanu estimate)
No house publishes an audited share-of-MW series (register item 1). AirTrunk and CDC are the two largest operators; with NEXTDC they plausibly represent ~65-75% of third-party operational MW, an explicit estimate.
Concentration cuts both ways
ResearchAndMarkets names CDC, NEXTDC and AirTrunk as the dominant trio. Concentration gives the leaders pricing power on scarce powered capacity, and makes the sector's credit profile hostage to three balance sheets.
AirTrunk is the sector's price-setter: an A$24bn platform, >800 MW committed, and now heading for a Singapore REIT window
Ownership & scale
- Blackstone-led consortium with CPP Investments (12%) acquired AirTrunk from Macquarie AM/PSP for an implied EV over A$24bn (US$16.1bn), announced 4 Sep 2024, completed Dec 2024 after FIRB. Largest DC transaction globally at the time; top-five Australian M&A ever; Blackstone's largest APAC investment.
- Macquarie/PSP had taken 88% in 2020 at a ~A$3bn valuation, an ~8x uplift in four years. Founder Robin Khuda retained a stake.
- >800 MW committed to customers at acquisition; land supporting >1 GW growth. APAC footprint: AU, Japan, Singapore, HK, Malaysia; India entry Apr 2026 plus a US$30bn/5 GW India commitment (Jun 2026).
Financing machine
- A$16bn sustainability-linked refinancing (Aug 2025, 60 banks), APAC's largest sustainable financing issuer; total >A$18bn.
- Reportedly seeking ~A$4.3bn construction facility for Kemps Creek (Jun 2026).
- Confidential filing for a ~US$1.5bn Singapore REIT IPO (Jul 2026; targeting Sep-Oct 2026), the first public financial window into the platform.
- 2020: ~A$3bn Macquarie AM / PSP take 88%
- 2024: >A$24bn EV Blackstone-led; CPP 12%
- ~8x in four years Value uplift, 2020 to 2024
Australian portfolio
| Asset | Capacity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| SYD3 Huntingwood | ~330-400 MW operating | Australia's largest operating campus |
| SYD4 Kemps Creek | up to 1,200 MW planned | 6 buildings; land $780m; SSDA exhibited |
| SYD1 Lane Cove West | ~150 MW | Established metro |
| MEL1 Derrimut | 185+ MW | Six phases; PUE 1.15 |
| MEL2 | 354+ MW | A$5bn+; announced Dec 2025; opening targeted 2H 2027 |
| PER1 | operating | WA anchor |
Hyperscaler prospects, named publicly
AirTrunk named Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft as Australian prospects (Sep 2026), a public marker that the leased-campus model expects to capture, not lose, the hyperscaler build wave.
Beyond the big three: interconnection, sovereign-niche, listed vehicles and the neocloud entrants
Equinix: interconnection incumbent
- 18 IBX facilities across six metros; ~730,000 sq ft (~68,000 sqm); 155+ networks, the densest interconnection ecosystem.
- Built on the Metronode acquisition (A$1.035bn, Apr 2018; ~16x EBITDA, ~US$8m/MW). plus organic builds (SY5 Alexandria, A$224m, 9,225 cabinets).
- PE2 Perth lands the Australia-Singapore and Oman Australia cables.
DigiCo (ASX:DGT): listed stabilised-asset REIT
- IPO Dec 2024 raised A$2.0bn at A$5.00, largest AU IPO since 2018 (-9% day one).
- Seed assets: Global Switch Australia (A$1.937bn EV; SYD1 Ultimo 26 MW to 88 MW; ~24.7x EBITDA, ~4.05% implied earnings yield) and iseek (A$400-413m; ~19x forecast FY25 earnings).
- FY26 uEBITDA guidance A$120-125m; NTA A$3.80; sold Chicago for US$750m (May 2026); Morningstar FV A$3.40, 'no moat'.
DCI (Brookfield): lineage clarified
DCI is not AirTrunk and is no longer Blackstone-owned: Blackstone formed DCI; Brookfield acquired it in Jan 2019 for A$370m (8.6 MW at the time). By 2023: 10+ sites, ~120 MW APAC (Sydney SYD01 11 MW; SYD02/03 Huntingwood SSD-approved; Adelaide; Auckland; Darwin).
Macquarie Data Centres (ASX:MAQ)
- Sydney North zone: IC1/IC2 + IC3 Super West, A$350m, 63 MW IT. (construction since Jun 2024); bought back IC2/IC3 for A$174m from Keppel DC REIT (Apr 2024).
- All campuses Certified Strategic; claims 42% of federal government workloads.
Vantage APAC
MEL1 Tullamarine (48-64 MW, 3 buildings); Aware Super committed US$300m to the Skyline JV owning Vantage APAC (Dec 2025).
Neoclouds & AI factories: the new category
- Firmus: A$330m at A$1.85bn post-money (Sep 2025); US$10bn Blackstone/Coatue debt (Feb 2026); US$2bn equity at >US$10.5bn post-money (Aug 2026). Southgate: Tasmania <=400 MW + CDC-partnered mainland; 1.6 GW target by 2028.
- ResetData/Centuria: AI-F1 Docklands, Australia's first public 'AI factory' (Nvidia H200).
- Sharon AI: 50 MW NEXTDC expansion; M3 scaling 1,000 to 20,000 GPUs.
Developers entering
Stockland/EdgeConneX 50:50 JV (Mar 2026); ISPT Kemps Creek (~A$5bn, <=1 GW); GreenSquareDC Norwest (A$1.2bn, 110 MW); Starwood/Doma Minchinbury; Digital Realty Erskine Park; Telstra legacy exchanges; Iron Mountain.
Relative scale of the second tier and entrants: MW as disclosed on this page, common 0-400 MW scale
Sources
- ITK Research, as at 11 May 2026
- Infratil disclosures, as at Mar 2026
- Business Wire, as at 5 Dec 2025
- Infratil CDC valuation update, as at 31 Mar 2026
- NEXTDC FY26 results, as at 27 Aug 2026
- AirTrunk pages and release
- Reuters, as at 4 Sep 2024
- RBC case study
- Reuters Breakingviews, as at 5 Sep 2024
- Arc Brief, as at Jul 2026
- Caproasia, as at 16 Jul 2026
- Crypto Briefing, as at 6 Jun 2026
- Reuters/Yahoo, as at 25 Aug 2025
- Mingtiandi, as at 16 Jul 2026
- Troview, as at Jun 2026
- ITK, as at May 2026
- Certified Strategic, as at 10 Sep 2026
- Equinix, as at 18 Apr 2018, Aug 2026
- ZDNet, as at 25 Feb 2019
- LinkedIn/Khorana, as at 20 Aug 2025
- Reuters via MarketScreener, as at 20 Nov 2024
- Mingtiandi, as at 6 May 2026
- Savills, as at Q1 2025
- PwC, as at Mar 2026
- AFR Street Talk, as at 24 Jan 2019
- Natixis, as at 20 Jan 2022
- Mingtiandi, as at 7 Feb 2023
- Macquarie Data Centres
- M3 Property, as at Sep 2024
- W.Media, as at Dec 2025
- The Tech Capital, as at 16 Sep 2025
- DCD, as at 9 Feb 2026
- Yahoo/Verdict, as at 10 Aug 2026
- Kalkine, as at Jul 2026
- ITK Research, as at May 2026
Related
- How much is CDC Data Centres worth?
- Why does NEXTDC trade at such a high EBITDA multiple?
- Was AirTrunk bought at 21x or 87x EBITDA?
- How do Goodman and Stack make money from data centres?
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