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Canada’s CPP Investments partners Blackstone in A$24 billion data centre buy

CPP
By Hui Ching-hoo   
September 6, 2024

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and US private equity firm Blackstone Inc have teamed up to buy Australian data centre operator AirTrunk for over A$24 billion (US$16.13 billion) to capitalise on strong demand for digital infrastructure and adoption of artificial intelligence in Asia.

The deal includes a commitment by CPP Investments to buy a 12% stake in Sydney-based AirTrunk, which develops and operates data centres across Asia Pacific including in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

CPP Investments, which manages Canada’s largest pension fund, announced the partnership with Blackstone for the acquisition in a statement on September 4.

They are buying AirTrunk from Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management and others, including Canadian pension manager PSP Investments.

According to Max Biagosch, global head of real assets and head of Europe at CPP Investments, the investment enhances the pension fund’s footprint in the region.

“CPP Investments has invested in the Asia Pacific data centre sector for several years, and we have witnessed significant growth in this space, fueled by a strong demand for digital infrastructure and, more recently, the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence,” he says.

Toronto-based CPP Investments managed C$632.3 billion ($462 billion) of assets for around 20 million members of the Canada Pension Plan as of March 2024.

New York-based Blackstone has around $1 trillion of total assets.