Blackstone's AirTrunk Seeks S$2 Billion Loan for Singapore Data Centre REIT IPO

AirTrunk, the Blackstone-owned data centre operator, is in negotiations with banks to secure approximately S$2 billion in debt financing to support the public listing of a real estate investment trust backed by its assets in Singapore, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposed offering represents a significant test for data centre financing in Asia, a market where lenders are increasingly approaching their sector exposure limits and growing more selective about which projects they are willing to fund.

The company has approached lenders with requests for several tranches of debt with maturities ranging from three to seven years, denominated in both Singapore dollars and Japanese yen, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private negotiations. The loan, which would be raised by the REIT, will likely be used to acquire assets from AirTrunk and refinance existing debt. The terms have not been finalised and could still be subject to change, the people added. Representatives for both AirTrunk and Blackstone declined to comment on the matter.

The scale of the proposed financing underscores the broader surge in data centre lending across the region. Data centre loans in Asia have climbed to nearly US$29 billion since the start of 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, reflecting the insatiable demand for computing infrastructure driven by artificial intelligence and cloud adoption. As demand continues to grow, bankers are devising new ways to free up balance sheets for further lending, including through asset-backed bonds, a financing mechanism that AirTrunk is also exploring.

Through the IPO, AirTrunk would be able to shift some of its assets into the REIT and raise capital from a wider pool of investors, providing an alternative funding pathway at a time when traditional bank lending is becoming constrained. AirTrunk has been one of the region's more aggressive borrowers, having secured billions for data centre build-outs, including a recent US$2.3 billion green loan for a facility in Malaysia's Johor Bahru. Its backing from Blackstone means many banks remain willing to extend debt even as they reject smaller, lesser-known operators, the people familiar said.

AirTrunk is close to filing confidentially for the REIT IPO, people familiar with the matter said in June. Earlier in the year, other people had said the company may raise about US$1.5 billion in the offering. The listing will be closely watched as a bellwether for data centre financing in Asia, where banks are hitting their sector limits and becoming more selective about which projects they lend to. The outcome could set the tone for how other operators in the region structure their own funding strategies amid an energy shock that has clouded approximately US$800 billion of Asian data centre financing.