Infratil's CDC investment rises in value by $448 million

Infrastructure investor Infratil has upped the valuation of its Canberra Data Centres (CDC) investment by $448 million.

The increase is over the six months since the March 31 2023 valuation, Infratil said.

All in all, Infratil's 47.99 per cent stake in CDC is now valued at between $3641 million to $4186 million, with a midpoint of $3884 million.

This is up from $3145 million to $3744 miilion, with a midpoint of $3436 million in March.

Infratil chief executive Jason Boyes said CDC's data centre design, operating model and customer base is strategically positioned to benefit from the new growth in demand for artificial intelligence services.

"These market dynamics have seen a significant uptick in inbound customer interest," Boyes said.

"In response to this demand, CDC is expecting a significant acceleration of construction and expansion of development planning in all locations - Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland," he added.

CDC currently has 117 Megawatts capacity in Canberra, 123 MW in Sydney and 28 MW in Auckland.

Under construction, the company is aiming for another 56 MW in Canberra, 147 MW in Sydney, 32 MW in Melbourne, and 30 MW in Auckland.

For future builds, CDC is aiming for a further 517 MW capacity for a total of 1050 MW by 2028.

The data centre builder looks set to install facilities outside its current four locations, with 22 MW earmarked for "Australian expansion" in the future.

Canberra Data Centres was acquired by New Zealand's Infratil and Australian government pension fund provider Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation in 2016, with founders Ken Lowe, Craig Sebbens and Greg Boorer retaining four per cent of the company at the time.