Firmus Secures $10 Billion Debt Facility to Power Major AI Data Center Expansion in Australia
February 9, 2026
In a landmark deal underscoring the massive capital requirements of the global AI infrastructure race, Australian neocloud provider Firmus has secured a $10 billion debt financing facility to accelerate the rollout of its specialized AI data centers across the country. The transaction, described by the company as one of the largest private debt financings in Australian history, highlights the intense investor appetite for funding the physical backbone of the artificial intelligence revolution.
The financing was led by global investment giants Blackstone and Coatue. The funds are earmarked for Project Southgate, Firmus's strategic initiative to build a network of "AI factories" based on the Nvidia DGX reference architecture. This project is a partnership with CDC Data Centres and enjoys backing from Nvidia itself.
John Watson, a senior managing director in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group, emphasized the strategic bet, stating, “The picks and shovels powering the AI revolution are one of our highest conviction investment themes, and we are excited to finance Firmus’s continued growth. AI is driving one of the most significant infrastructure build-outs in decades, and we believe Australia can play a central role in that transformation.”
Project Southgate is a rapidly scaling endeavor. It began in late 2024 with a planned 90-megawatt campus in Launceston, Tasmania. By late 2025, a partnership with CDC Data Centres expanded its scope nationwide, targeting a total capacity of 1.6 gigawatts across sites in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and Perth by 2028. Firmus has already raised significant capital for the project, including AU$500 million ($351 million) in a previous funding round last November.
Oliver Curtis, co-CEO of Firmus, linked the financing to national ambition, saying, “This milestone reflects the trajectory of Australia as a global player in powering AI. With Blackstone and Coatue’s financing, we’re helping meet the rising global demand for AI compute.” He added that the company is focused on “rapidly scaling our energy-efficient AI Factories,” which are purpose-built with thousands of GPUs for energy efficiency and are designed to serve the world's most demanding AI customers.
The implications of this financing extend beyond a single company. It signals deep-pocketed institutional confidence in Australia's potential as a strategic hub for AI compute, leveraging its energy profile, skilled workforce, and infrastructure. The scale of investment required—billions for gigawatts of capacity—sets a new benchmark for data center financing in the region and accelerates the competition to build the next generation of AI-optimized infrastructure.
Source: datacenterdynamics
