NEXTDC turbocharges S3 data centre fitout in Sydney

NEXTDC has this morning kicked off a fundraising effort to fund two new data centres and an accelerated fitout of its S3 site in Sydney.

In an announcement [pdf] to the Australian Securities Exchange, the company said the $618 million placement will be in the form of offers for both institutional and retail investors.

The company plans to spend $250 million building a 65MW data centre on recently-acquired real estate in Kuala Lumpur (to be called KL1), and $140 million on a 10MW data centre in Auckland (AK1).

The first phase of KL1 will be 7.5MW while AK1's first phase will deliver 1.7MW.

The Auckland site's maximum capacity will be 15MW "based on higher density deployments", the company said.

Construction on the sites will begin in 2024, with completion due in 2026.

It will also spend $150 million accelerating the fitout of its S3 site in the Sydney suburb of Artarmon.

This is necessary, NEXTDC said, to meet “the 35.9MW increase in contracted utilisation” it had already announced on the ASX.

As a result, S3 will become a 120MW data centre, NEXTDC said.

The share offer is a one-for-eight entitlement offer priced at $10.80 per new share.

The company also updated its full-year 2023 guidance, with forecast data centre revenue upped from $340-$355 million to $350-$360 million; and forecast capex of $670 to $720 million (to take into account the $53 million cost of the Kuala Lumpur site).