AirTrunk secures largest sustainability linked loan for data centres

AirTrunk has doubled the size of its sustainability-linked loan (SLL) facilities, which now stand at $2.96 billion.

The Australian data centre company, which owns and operates data centres around the Asia Pacific region, said this was the largest SLL by a data centre operator. The expanded credit facility will be used to refinance AirTrunk’s existing debt facilities and support the company’s expansion across the region.

It has refinanced its corporate sustainability linked loan (SLL) to AU$4.6 billion (US$2.96bn), more than doubling the initial AU$2.1 billion (US$1.35bn) SLL which closed in September 2021. If the company hits certain ESG goals, its interest payments will be reduced.

AirTrunk’s SLL links the company’s financing to KPIs including carbon usage effectiveness (CUE), operating power usage effectiveness (PUE), operating water usage effectiveness (WUE), gender diversity and gender pay equity. The company said it is the first SLL to use a CUE metric.

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.”

Murthy continued: “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 latest SLL facility excludes AirTrunk’s existing US$774m of sustainable financing in Japan, which include a green loan for the development of its TOK2 data centre campus in Tokyo and a separate SLL.

AirTrunk said it plans to invest all margin incentives from the SLL into social impact initiatives aligned to its four focus areas: equal digital access, STEM education, biodiversity and conservation and innovation and R&D.