•Chicago hyperscale asset sold at premium to prior purchase price
•Balance sheet improvement frees capital for Sydney data centre build

The fact

Australia's DigiCo Infrastructure will sell its Chicago CHI1 data centre for US$750 million to an unnamed North American fund manager to reduce debt and fund its Sydney project. The 32MW facility is leased to a hyperscale customer under a 15-year contract. The sale implies a near 5% premium to its November 2024 purchase price and will generate about A$360 million after debt repayment. Pro-forma net debt will fall to A$500 million from A$1.5 billion, while liquidity will rise to about A$900 million. Shares rose more than 25%.

The assessment

DigiCo bought CHI1 less than a year ago and is already flipping it at a premium — a sign of how AI-driven data centre demand has compressed the hold period for hyperscale assets. The 5% uplift on a sub-12-month hold is not a margin play; it reflects a market where hyperscale buyers are willing to pay up for fully leased, long-dated capacity. The flip also exposes the leverage DigiCo took on to acquire CHI1: net debt sat at A$1.5 billion, making the asset sale necessary to stabilise the balance sheet before funding the Sydney build. The transaction cuts pro-forma net debt to A$500 million and restores liquidity to A$900 million — effectively resetting DigiCo from a debt-constrained acquirer back into a developer. For BTW readers, Chicago's role as a major US interconnection hub means any change in ownership of a 32MW hyperscale node can reshape carrier aggregation patterns and peering topology in the midwest.

What to watch

Whether DigiCo's Sydney project proceeds on the accelerated timeline now enabled by the A$900 million liquidity, whether further portfolio sales follow as DigiCo rotates capital from acquired assets into greenfield builds, and whether the Chicago buyer is an existing regional player or a new entrant targeting midwest interconnection capacity.

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