The scale of AI infrastructure financing just hit a new gear.
Australian AI infrastructure developer Firmus has finalized a massive $10 billion debt funding package led by Blackstone (BX) and Coatue Management. The deal underscores a major shift in the market: the “picks and shovels” of AI are now attracting sovereign-scale credit, not just venture equity.
🏗️ PROJECT SOUTHGATE: The capital will fuel the next phase of Project Southgate, Firmus’ initiative to build sovereign AI training and inference infrastructure across Australia.
- The Scale: Targeting 1.6 Gigawatts of capacity over the next three years.
- The Partners: Developed in collaboration with CDC Data Centres and chip giant Nvidia (NVDA).
- The Backing: This follows A$830M in equity raised last year, directly backed by Nvidia and Ellerston Capital.
💰 BLACKSTONE’S CONVICTION: John Watson (Blackstone Tactical Opportunities) framed the deal clearly:
- “The picks and shovels powering the AI revolution are one of our highest conviction investment themes.”
- The firm believes Australia can play a “central role” in the global infrastructure build-out, likely due to its abundance of energy and stable jurisdiction.
💡 ANALYST TAKEAWAY: This is the industrialization of AI. A $10 billion debt deal signals that lenders view AI data centers as stable, utility-like assets with predictable cash flows. By securing 1.6GW of capacity, Firmus isn’t just building server rooms; they are building the power plants of the digital age. Australia is rapidly emerging as a preferred “Compute Hub” for the APAC region, leveraging its renewable energy potential to feed the hungry H100s.
👇 Infra Investors: Is 1.6GW in 3 years feasible, or will grid connection delays become the new bottleneck for capital deployment?