Expectations are mounting that Commonwealth Super will end up selling its $2bn-plus stake in the CDC Data Centres business to one of its existing owners, Infratil or the Future Fund.
The understanding is that Morrison & Co, Infratil’s manager, has been keen to find a buyer of the stake where it could continue to manage the investment.
However, several interested suitors from the super fund industry and beyond manage their own investments.
Sources now believe that Infratil or Future Fund picking up the stake is the most likely outcome.
It comes after Infratil released a valuation on the business this month that puts it at around $10bn after data centre giant AirTrunk sold for $24bn to Blackstone.
DataRoom reported in July that investment bank Barrenjoey had been tapped for a possible selldown of by one of CDC’s owners, with Commonwealth Super known to be interested in divesting its holding.
In a research note, analysts at Jarden said the recent sale of data centre giant AirTrunk (offloaded to Blackstone and CPP) confirmed a large appetite for quality data centre assets does exist, supporting the chance of CDC rerating on coming capital raises or a sell down.
Infratil’s latest quarterly independent valuation for its 48.2 per cent stake in CDC Data Centres pegs it now at between $4.4bn and $5.3bn.
In its last annual report, Infratil said the fair value was $NZ4.4bn ($4.04bn),
The valuation indicated a 409 megawatt uplift to the data centre’s operator’s development pipeline out to the 2034 financial year, being now at 2296MW, and a continued high level of interest from customers.
Australian infrastructure asset manager Morrison & Co purchased CDC Data Centres in 2016 for about $1.1bn on behalf of Infratil and Commonwealth Super.
In 2020, Commonwealth Super Corp sold half of its 48.2 per cent interest to the Future Fund.
Data centres are one of the most popular investment choices in the current market, being in demand with the rise of artificial intelligence.
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