No time to read? Just listen to the news!
TL;DR
- AirTrunk, founded by Bangladeshi-Australian Robin Khuda, to be acquired for USD 16.1 billion by Blackstone and CPP Investments.
- Deal is Blackstone’s largest Asia Pacific investment and Australia’s biggest buyout this year.
- Khuda, 45, started AirTrunk in 2015 after corporate career, funding it with retirement savings.
- AirTrunk is Asia Pacific’s largest data centre group with 11 sites across Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
AirTrunk, a data centre group founded by Bangladeshi-Australian entrepreneur Robin Khuda, is set to be acquired by a consortium led by American alternative investment management company Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) in a USD 16.1 billion (AUD 23 billion) deal. The transaction, which is subject to approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), marks Blackstone’s largest investment in the Asia Pacific region and the biggest leveraged buyout in Australia this year.
($1 = 1.4908 Australian dollars)
AirTrunk’s current majority stakeholders, Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP), who acquired an 88% stake in the company in 2020 at a valuation of around $3 billion, are selling their entire holdings. Robin Khuda, AirTrunk’s founder and chief executive, will retain a stake in the company and continue to serve as CEO.
The deal comes at a time when private equity-led dealmaking is rebounding after a slowdown caused by increased financing costs in 2022 and 2023. Global leveraged-buyout volumes jumped 41% to $286 billion during the first half of 2024, according to Dealogic. The surge in demand for digital infrastructure, fueled by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, has also contributed to the increasing value of AirTrunk during the sales process.
CPP Investments, which has invested in the Asia Pacific data centre sector for several years, will hold a 12% stake in AirTrunk once the deal is finalized. Max Biagosch, CPP Investments’ global head of real assets, noted the significant growth in the sector, driven by strong demand for digital infrastructure and the increasing adoption of AI.
AirTrunk, founded in Sydney in 2015, is considered the largest data centre group in Asia Pacific, with 11 sites across Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The company’s impressive growth and market position have been attributed to Khuda’s leadership and vision.
AirTrunk is another vital step as Blackstone seeks to be the leading digital infrastructure investor in the world across the ecosystem, including data centers, power and related services, said Blackstone president Jon Gray in a statement.
Robin Khuda, who arrived in Sydney from Bangladesh at the age of 18, pursued an accounting degree at the University of Technology Sydney, followed by an MBA in finance from Manchester Business School in the UK and further studies in the USA. The 45-year-old tech entrepreneur’s transition from the corporate world to the startup arena, initially funded by his retirement savings, has culminated in the creation of AirTrunk.
The acquisition of AirTrunk not only cements Khuda’s status as a key player in the tech industry but also highlights the contributions of South Asian Australian founders to the global technology landscape.
