• 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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