Three New ‘Cloud’ Data Centres for NextDC as APDC Initiates Lawsuit

Data centre operator NextDC is expanding with plans for three new commercial sites in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

The new centres, in deals said to cost $170 million, will take the total NextDC portfolio to 11 with seven currently running.

The ASX-listed company said it’s currently in advanced negotiations to acquire the three sites, located in inner northern Sydney, East Perth and Port Melbourne.

Related reading: NextDC Rejects $265m Data Centre Portfolio

NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie said there’s a growing need for data centres due to the business climate rapidly changing.

“We are incredibly excited by the breadth and depth of these new investments that will further support the exponential growth of the digital economy in Australia.”

The growth of cloud computing is led heavily by a boom in the power of connected devices, primarily smart phones.

“Over time these new infrastructure developments are expected to be the largest of their kind in Australia. These important strategic investments will extend our world class operation of Tier IV data centres across the Australian landscape.”

Funding for these projects will be funded by a $281 million capital raising, including via a placement to new cornerstone investor, industry super fund UniSuper.

Scroggie said the data centres will all feature Tier IV design and NABERS 5.0-star energy efficiency.

Developing the centres to full capacity will cost $2 billion over the next five to six years.

Asia Pacific Data Centre Group launch lawsuit against NextDC

The swift move to buy their own land comes after the tech company turned down an offer made by Asia Pacific Data Centre Group (APDC) to buy a portfolio containing three data centres for $265 million on the grounds of “unjustifiable value”.

On Thursday morning, it was revealed that APDC has initiated legal proceedings against NextDC over access rights.

"Following numerous attempts seeking access to the APDC portfolio for both the independent valuers and prospective purchasers to inspect the facilities, APDC Trust has now made an application to the NSW Supreme Court to seek specific performance under each of the leases to allow the inspections to take place," the property group said.

In February APDC had attempted to sell the centres to a mystery foreign buyer for $280m.