Macquarie Technology Group is exploring a major reshaping of its data centre ownership structure as it lines up funding options for a new 150MW+ campus in Sydney, a project expected to cost between AUD 2.5bn and AUD 3bn excluding land. Speaking at the company’s Investor Day, executives said that while the existing AUD 450m syndicated corporate debt facility and recurring cashflow are sufficient to complete IC3 Super West Phase 1 and purchase a new AUD 240m Sydney land parcel, the scale of the next build demands a different capital model.
The comments echo reporting in the Australian Financial Review, which said CEO David Tudehope is considering selling a majority stake in Macquarie’s existing data centre portfolio to help bankroll the new development. Macquarie has already established a legal structure separating each data centre asset into its own entity – an exercise designed to maximise financing flexibility across the listed group, the operating company, the Macquarie Data Centres platform, and individual assets.
The company’s presentation confirmed that capital recycling is being actively assessed. The model would see Macquarie sell 80–90 percent of a stabilised data centre – most likely its Macquarie Park Data Centre Campus – to a long-term investor such as a superannuation fund. The asset would need to demonstrate strong, reliable cashflows and high-quality customers, conditions Macquarie considers already present on its campus, which hosts hyperscale, enterprise, sovereign, and AI workloads.
Macquarie would continue to operate the facility under an operating agreement and retain a minority equity position, freeing capital for reinvestment into the new site. The sequencing of customer contracts at Macquarie Park will influence how much capital the operator can recycle and when.
JV option also in play
Macquarie is also evaluating a development partnership or joint venture with an infrastructure investor. Such deals vary widely depending on partner contributions and risk appetite, and may supplement rather than replace asset-level capital recycling. The operator emphasised that both structures, capital recycling and JV, are common internationally but “less common in Australia”, a point also highlighted in the AFR report.
Over the past 12 months, Macquarie has reorganised its corporate structure so that all data centre assets sit in discrete legal entities. This allows financing to be raised at: listed entity level; operating group level (where the AUD 450m corporate facility sits); MDC platform level (which holds the AUD 90m data centre loan note); and individual data centre level.
This architecture mirrors the financing models used by hyperscale-aligned operators overseas and provides the mechanisms needed for Macquarie to mix debt, equity, and asset monetisation to support the new campus.
Scaling for AI-era demand
The next campus follows ongoing expansion at the IC3 Super West development at Macquarie Park. Phase 1, which is a AUD 350m investment comprising core and shell and 6MW of IT load, is tracking on time and on budget, with completion due Q3 CY2026. The wider Macquarie Park campus will ultimately reach 65MW with all power secured. However, the new greenfield site represents a materially larger commitment, part of a wider industry trend toward mega-campuses built to meet surging cloud and AI demand.
Macquarie joins other Australian operators seeking fresh capital structures: NextDC is pursuing a AUD 15bn development partnership to deliver 850MW in Western Sydney, while AirTrunk’s owner Blackstone is preparing asset-sell-down programs across the region. Macquarie told investors it expects to use the next few years (before construction begins) to determine the optimal mix of capital recycling, partnership and corporate financing.