(May 6): Stack Infrastructure Inc, a data centre company owned by Blue Owl Capital, is considering options including a sale of its Asian operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
Denver-based Stack has been speaking with prospective advisers about a partial or full sale of the assets in Australia, Japan and Malaysia, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. A transaction might be valued at more than US$30 billion ($38.0 billion), some of the people said.
Other infrastructure-focused funds and industry players may be interested in the business, the people said, adding that considerations are preliminary and no final decisions have been made.
A representative of Blue Owl declined to comment, while Stack didn’t respond to a request for comments.
Data centre companies have drawn in investors, attracted by their close ties to the boom in artificial intelligence (AI). The Asia-Pacific has been a busy region for deals — Stonepeak Partners-backed Digital Edge is exploring a possible sale, people familiar with the matter said last week, while Bain Capital is working on a review of Bridge Data Centres, and Princeton Digital Group has tapped Goldman Sachs Group Inc for what could be another multibillion-dollar deal. DayOne Data Centers Ltd is considering an initial public offering in the US.
Moody’s Ratings expects at least US$3 trillion to flow into investments in the data sector over the next five years, with much to be financed through debt. Some concerns have been raised about sustainability and AI’s rapid growth.
See also: SoftBank cuts target for OpenAI margin loan by 40% to US$6 bil — Bloomberg
Stack operates data centres in the Americas, Europe and Asia, its website shows. Alternative asset manager Blue Owl acquired Stack as part of its takeover of IPI Partners LLC last year. Stack expanded into Asia-Pacific in 2021, setting its regional headquarters in Singapore and targeting organic growth with landowners and property developers, as well as via acquisitions.
Stack was seeking a loan of around AUD3 billion (US$2.2 billion or $2.8 billion) to help accelerate development in Australia, people familiar with the plan said in February. In October, it closed JPY39.7 billion (US$253 million or $322.6 million) green facility to expand its 36 megawatt campus in Inzai, near Tokyo.
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