Goodman and Digital Realty Seek A$715M Stake in NextDC as Shares Surge 51%
Goodman Group and Digital Realty have launched an after-hours bookbuild for a combined 9.9% stake in Australian data centre operator NextDC, offering A$9.50 per share. NextDC shares jumped 50.8% on Thursday to close at A$9.85. The move follows a steep share price drop after NextDC flagged power dela
Shares in Australian data centre operator NextDC surged nearly 51 per cent on Thursday after Goodman Group and Digital Realty launched an after-hours bookbuild at A$9.50 a share, seeking a combined holding of up to 9.9 per cent. The buyers made their move on Wednesday through Ackland Investments, a vehicle they own in equal measure, NextDC said in a Thursday filing. The offer was pitched at a 45.5 per cent premium to Wednesday’s A$6.53 close and valued a 9.9 per cent holding at A$715 million ($500 million), according to a term sheet seen by Reuters.
NextDC closed Thursday at A$9.85, up 50.8 per cent from Wednesday’s A$6.53 close and 3.7 per cent above the buyers’ offer price. The Australian Financial Review reported that JP Morgan arranged the purchase of 57.25 million NextDC shares on behalf of the joint vehicle, equivalent to 7.5 per cent of NextDC and worth roughly A$544 million at the offer price. Ackland’s total holding remained unconfirmed late Thursday.
“The board considers this an opportunistic move by Goodman and Digital Realty,” NextDC said, adding that it had yet to learn the outcome of the bookbuild and had received no takeover proposal. The buyers told investors through their broker that they had no current intention of seeking control while reserving the right to do so. NextDC appointed Barrenjoey and UBS as joint lead financial advisors and Cadence Advisory as independent financial advisor.
The A$9.50 offer was just 3.5 per cent above the A$9.18 at which NextDC last traded before its October profit warning. The stock plunged about 42 per cent in a single session after the company disclosed delays to electricity network works serving its M3 campus in Melbourne. The delay pushed A$140 million in contracted revenue out of NextDC’s forecast for the financial year ending in June 2027, and the company slashed its underlying EBITDA guidance to A$245 million-A$265 million from A$385 million-A$410 million.
NextDC also put new developments and land purchases on hold and began weighing sales of development sites. Chief executive Craig Scroggie subsequently gave up his bonuses for the financial year as the sell-off deepened. NextDC’s disclosed substantial holders include State Street at 10.81 per cent, AustralianSuper at 8.49 per cent, Vanguard at 6.02 per cent and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board at 5.23 per cent, based on the latest available notices.
The share purchase pairs a listed Australian developer with a US data centre REIT that already operates Down Under. Data centres accounted for 79 per cent of Goodman’s A$19.7 billion in development work in progress at the end of September. NYSE-listed Digital Realty has used local partnerships to expand elsewhere in Asia Pacific, including a 50:50 venture with Mitsubishi Corporation that began construction last month on a 24MW facility in Osaka.
