Tuesday 18 February 2025
The three major shareholders in CDC data centres have signed a landmark deal to ensure continued sovereign ownership of the pre-eminent company and to support its growth and success.
CDC is the largest operator and developer of data centres across Australia and New Zealand, with a total of 2.5GW of capacity across its operational, under construction and development pipeline.
Following a high-quality international bidding process launched in late 2024 by Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC), existing shareholders Future Fund and Infratil exercised their pre-emptive rights to acquire all the available shares offered by CSC (12.04%).
As a result, Future Fund will increase its direct ownership of CDC, acquiring 10.46% of available shares and bringing its total equity holding to 34.55%. Infratil will acquire the remaining 1.58% of available shares to increase its stake to 49.75%.
As part of the transaction, CSC will retain 12.04% of shares. CDC management, led by CEO Greg Boorer as the largest individual shareholder, will hold 3.66% of shares. The transaction puts the enterprise value of CDC at an impressive ~$17bn.
CDC Chief Executive Officer and founder Mr. Greg Boorer says the transaction outcome is a testament to CDC’s pre-eminent market position and demonstrates shareholders’ confidence in CDC’s ambitious plans for the future.
“I am thrilled to have the continued strong financial backing and support of Future Fund, Infratil and CSC,” Mr Boorer said.
“The strategic importance of these shareholders and their long-term horizon means that CDC is best positioned for making the right moves to lock in long term growth in the relevant markets.
“I believe CDC is best positioned to pursue its ambitious growth targets and consolidate its status as a data centre of global significance to the largest and most critical customers driving progress in the world today.
Mr Boorer said that anticipating and exceeding customer demands is what has truly set CDC apart from competitors since its inception in 2007.
“Our shareholders know that CDC has a relentless focus on serving our customers and delivering the highest levels of resilience, security and sustainability to meet their requirements.
“We have done that consistently since day one, which was 18 years ago. Over that time, our customers have become even more discerning and their needs have grown rapidly. It is our pleasure to not only meet – but exceed – customer expectations and create genuine, long-term partnerships built on trust.”
The announcement comes at a time when CDC is embarked on a significant development program.
Earlier this week, Mr Boorer was joined by Federal, State and Local Government representatives to break ground on a new large scale data centre campus in Melbourne’s south-west. As part of this multi-phase campus, phase one alone will see an investment of $2.7Bn as the latest in an array of new developments for the company’
This follows the commencement of construction of a new campus in Sydney. When complete, the two additional campuses will add an additional ~1GW of capacity to CDC’s operational footprint to meet strong customer demand.
“The future is brighter than ever, and we are excited to embark on this next chapter of our journey,” Mr Boorer said.
“We will drive forward with the same passion and determination that have defined our success to date and continue to expand our capacity to deliver cutting-edge digital infrastructure.”
CDC plays a unique role in supporting the most important sectors critical to security, social, and economic wellbeing—including Government and National Critical Infrastructure, Research and Education, Hyperscale and Artificial Intelligence.
“I often say we are the critical infrastructure for critical infrastructure,” said Mr Boorer.
“With the most strategic shareholders in our corner, this transaction positions CDC perfectly to execute on our plans.”