APAC-based hyperscale data centre company AirTrunk has refinanced its corporate sustainability linked loan (SLL) to $2.96 billion (AUD $4.6 billion).
The new loan is almost double the company’s initial SLL, which closed in September 2021 at $1.35 billion (AUD $2.1 billion). AirTrunk has said that the loan will be used to refinance its existing debt facilities and support its regional expansion.
The KPIs that are tied to the SLL include carbon usage effectiveness (CUE), operating power usage effectiveness (PUE), operating water usage effectiveness (WUE), gender diversity and gender pay equity.
AirTrunk also plans to invest all margin incentives from the SLL into social impact initiatives, including equal digital access, STEM education, biodiversity and conservation, and innovation, research and development.
AirTrunk Chief Financial and Commercial Officer, Prashant Murthy, said, “In the last two years, we have announced the development of more than half a gigawatt of new capacity in APJ. This landmark SLL ensures that as we scale across the region, we do so as sustainably as possible, driving the industry forward by redefining sustainable financing standards.
“With an innovative combination of KPIs linked to the key environmental focus areas in the industry across carbon emissions, energy and water efficiency as well as gender diversity and equity, we are demonstrating our commitment to responsible and sustainable growth. The SLL KPIs also align to our net zero by 2030 strategy and further hold us accountable to achieve our climate goals.
“We will continue to work with our customers, employees, investors, financing partners, regulatory bodies and communities to drive innovations like these to advance a sustainable future.”
Since its initial SLL in September 2021, AirTrunk has developed a number of sites including SYD3 in Western Sydney, TOK1 in Tokyo East, TOK2 in Tokyo West, JHB1 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia and HKG2 in Hong Kong. AirTrunk’s Asia-Pacific and Japan data centre portfolio provides almost 1.38GW of total capacity.
AirTrunk has said that this most recent refinancing excludes AirTrunk’s existing $774 million (AUS$1.2 billion) sustainable financing in Japan.
Crédit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank and HSBC acted as joint Sustainability Structuring Agents for the SLL refinance.
