Data centre provider NextDC (ASX:NXT) has completed a funding round of $33.6 million in capital to fund a new Sydney facility and expand existing data centres later this year.
The company entered a trading halt prior to the ASX opening on Thursday morning, pending the announcement. Trading is expected to resume later today.
Under the funding round, the company offered institutional and conditional share placements on the ASX worth $16.8 million each to brokerage houses Moelis and RBS Morgans. The institutional placement is expected to be completed by 24 March, while NextDC will hold an extraordinary general meeting on 27 April to settle the constitutional placement.
The company has also flagged a share purchase plan which will allow traders to purchase up to $15,000 worth of shares in the company between 28 March and 15 April, in an effort to raise the additional $5 million required to carry out current plans.
Of the $38.6 million in total funding, $12 million will go towards purchasing land in Sydney for construction of a new data centre facility there, while $23.6 million will be used to expand the company’s existing facilities in Brisbane and Melbourne. The remaining $3 million will be used as additional working capital.
Founder and former Pipe networks chief executive, Bevan Slattery, has indicated plans to open a third data centre in Sydney for some time and revealed plans last week to acquire a property of up to 5000 square metres in North Sydney for the centre. The company also told investor last week that it was exploring an additional Sydney site to cope with demand.
Perth, Canberra and Auckland, New Zealand, were cited as growth opportunities in a report to investors, with Slattery telling a Gartner forum in Sydney that a current drought in data centre space provided ample opportunity for growth.
The capital raising activities come as a second round of funding after the company raised $40 million during its initial public offering in December.
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