Australian artificial intelligence infrastructure developer Firmus said it has closed a $10 billion debt funding package led by private equity firm Blackstone and technology investor Coatue Management. The company said the capital will be directed to the next phase of Project Southgate - Firmus’ initiative to construct AI training and inference infrastructure across Australia, which includes the development and expansion of data centres.
Firmus described Project Southgate as a multi-year build aimed at supporting large-scale AI workloads. The company said the initiative, being advanced in collaboration with CDC Data Centres and U.S. chip maker Nvidia, is expected to reach a capacity of up to 1.6 gigawatts over the next three years.
John Watson, a senior managing director in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group, said the firm views the hardware and infrastructure that support AI compute as a high-conviction investment theme and that Blackstone is pleased to finance Firmus’ continued growth. Watson added that AI is driving one of the most significant infrastructure build-outs in decades and expressed the view that Australia can play a central role in that transformation.
Firmus also noted its equity moves from the previous year. The company raised A$830 million in two separate equity placements last year, a figure equivalent to $582.41 million using the exchange rate of $1 = 1.4251 Australian dollars. Those placements were backed by Nvidia and Australian investor Ellerston Capital.
The funding announcement positions Firmus to accelerate its Project Southgate timetable and scale infrastructure to support AI training and inference workloads. The financing structure centers on a large-scale debt package led by global investors, paired with the equity capital raised in the prior year that involved strategic technology and Australian investment partners.
Details released by the company highlight the partnership approach to capacity build-out, with CDC Data Centres contributing to the data centre element and Nvidia involved as a strategic technology partner. Firmus has set an explicit capacity target for the next three years, tying the financing directly to physical infrastructure expansion.
As Firmus moves into the implementation phase supported by the new debt facility, the company will pursue the planned growth in data centre and AI compute capacity while working with its announced partners to realise Project Southgate’s objectives.