Blackstone-led consortium nears $13.5 billion deal to buy AirTrunk, source says

By Kane Wu and Gnaneshwar Rajan

(Reuters) – A consortium led by Blackstone is nearing a deal to buy Australian data center group AirTrunk for A$20 billion ($13.53 billion), including debt, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday the situation.

Blackstone and its partner, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), emerged as the preferred buyers for AirTrunk after beating out a rival investor group, the person said, declining to be named because the information was private.

The deal could be announced in the coming days, the person said.

Bloomberg first reported the news on Monday, adding that AirTrunk owners Macquarie Group and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Canada are negotiating the final details of a deal.

Blackstone, CPPIB, Macquarie and PSP declined to comment.

Reuters reported last week that two bidding groups led by Blackstone and IFM Investors submitted final bids to buy AirTrunk on Tuesday.

The IFM-led consortium consists of DigitalBridge, GIP, Mubadala’s MGX and Silver Lake.

Macquarie and PSP own 88% of the data center business but did not disclose their individual stakes.

($1 = 1.4782 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Kane Wu in Hong Kong and Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Shri Navaratnam)