AirTrunk Gets A$4.25bn Green Loan for Sydney SYD3

AirTrunk has secured a A$4.25 billion green loan to fund the continued development of its SYD3 data-centre campus in Western Sydney, the company said on 27 October. A group of 32 Australian and international lenders backed the facility, which AirTrunk says makes it one of the largest lending groups assembled for a data-centre financing in Australia.

The deal takes AirTrunk’s total committed debt financing to about A$38.4 billion globally, including more than A$19.8 billion across its Australian projects, according to the company’s announcement. Construction of the expanded campus, led by A W Edwards, is under way and due to finish by mid-2028.

In brief

AirTrunk has secured a A$4.25bn green loan for SYD3 in Western Sydney, backed by 32 lenders and underwritten by 14 lead banks.
SMBC, HSBC and UOB coordinated the green loan; Mallesons advised AirTrunk and Gilbert & Tobin advised the lenders.
Margin savings under the loan’s green terms will go to AirTrunk’s social impact programme.
AirTrunk’s committed debt now totals about A$38.4bn, and it plans to invest a further A$75bn in Australia over the next decade.

What AirTrunk announced

AirTrunk says the facility is structured as a green loan with margin adjustments, though it has not published how those adjustments work. Any contributions from those margin savings will go to AirTrunk’s social impact programme, which supports local charities in STEM education, digital equity, biodiversity, sustainable innovation and disaster relief.

The 14 underwriting banks are Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS, Deutsche Bank, ING, Mizuho, MUFG, National Australia Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, HSBC and United Overseas Bank. SMBC, HSBC and UOB acted as green loan coordinators.

AirTrunk ties the financing to its target of net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. At SYD3, it says construction uses lower-carbon steel and concrete and aims to divert at least 90% of non-hazardous construction waste from landfill. The company expects the project to support more than 10,000 jobs across construction, trades, engineering, logistics and safety.

“SYD3 is a long-term investment in Western Sydney and Australia’s digital capability, backed by the confidence of leading Australian and international banks,” said Tom Mackellar, AirTrunk’s vice president of origination and market expansion. “The green financing also reflects our view that sustainability should be built into how digital infrastructure is funded and delivered.”

The campus and the lawyers’ view

AirTrunk’s release does not give SYD3’s capacity. Data Center Dynamics reports that the 8.3-hectare site could reach 400MW at full build-out across 42 data halls. AirTrunk says its Australian platform spans five campuses with more than 1.2GW of capacity.

Mallesons, which acted as AirTrunk’s counsel, confirmed the deal on the same day. Partner Yuen-Yee Cho said the firm partnered “with the AirTrunk and Blackstone teams on their first standalone greenfields debt financing in Australia”. Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought AirTrunk in 2024, DCD notes.

AirTrunk says it has invested more than A$12 billion in its Australian projects so far and plans to invest a further A$75 billion over the next decade.

Lenders keep funding AirTrunk as its listing waits

The loan says more about where AirTrunk’s money comes from than about any single building. Thirty-two institutions committing A$4.25 billion to one campus show that banks remain willing to lend heavily against hyperscale data centres. Earlier this month, AirTrunk also added $1bn of investment to its TOK1 campus in Japan, backed by a $1bn green loan led by SMBC, MUFG and UOB among others, according to Reuters.

Equity markets have looked cooler. Bloomberg and Reuters reported on 13 October, citing unnamed people, that AirTrunk was delaying its planned Singapore REIT listing into next year because of market conditions. AirTrunk has not confirmed that. Taken together, the two stories suggest the company can keep building with bank debt while a listing waits, though neither AirTrunk nor its lenders have linked the two.

Other operators in the region are also raising large bank facilities, such as DayOne’s RM30bn Johor financing, arranged by seven banks. In New South Wales, other large projects such as IREN’s proposed 900MW Redbank campus are still at an early stage and need grid connections. SYD3 is already being built and now has its funding in place.

The green label has limits as a measure. AirTrunk has not published the loan’s sustainability targets or how the margin adjustments work, so outsiders cannot yet judge how demanding the terms are.

What happens next

AirTrunk expects the expanded SYD3 to be complete by mid-2028. The loan’s tenor, pricing and the size of each lender’s share have not been disclosed. The next markers to watch are any AirTrunk update on its Singapore REIT plans and further financing for its other Australian sites.