Australian AI infrastructure developer Firmus has secured a $10 billion debt financing package led by Blackstone and Coatue, a deal that instantly vaults the company into the top tier of global data center players. The facility, worth about $14.2 billion in Australian dollars, is designed to bankroll a network of so‑called AI factories that will anchor the country’s ambitions to become a regional hub for advanced computing.
The transaction underscores how quickly capital is flooding into the physical backbone of artificial intelligence, from power‑hungry data centers to high‑end chips and cooling systems. It also signals that global investors see Australia’s energy mix, regulatory stability, and geography as strategic advantages in the race to host the next generation of AI workloads.
The structure of a $10 billion bet on AI factories
The core of the deal is a $10 billion debt package that Australian AI infrastructure developer Firmus has arranged with private equity giant Blackstone and technology investor Coatue, according to initial reports. Firmus describes itself as an Australian AI infrastructure developer focused on large‑scale data centers optimised for training and inference, a positioning that helps explain why lenders were willing to underwrite one of the largest private debt transactions ever attempted in the sector. The company has framed the facility as a way to accelerate construction of AI‑specific campuses rather than general‑purpose cloud sites, a distinction that matters for power density, cooling, and network design.
Further detail from SYDNEY indicates that Firmus, identified as an Australian artificial intelligence company, confirmed on a Monday that it had finalised the $10 billion debt funding package from Blackstone and Coatue, reinforcing the scale and finality of the arrangement in follow‑up coverage. Additional accounts describe the facility as a USD10 billion line, equivalent to about $14.2 billion, that will be drawn down as Firmus hits construction milestones across its Australian portfolio, a structure highlighted in a briefing note that also pegs the Australian dollar value at $14.2 billion.
Blackstone, Coatue and the evolution of private debt in AI
For Blackstone, the Firmus deal fits a broader pattern of using private credit to secure exposure to digital infrastructure without taking on the operational risk of running data centers directly. Earlier commentary on the transaction points to Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group as a key driver of the financing, with By Scott Murdoch noting that the unit is steering the investment from Manhattan in New York City. That group specialises in complex, often bespoke financings, and the Firmus package, which blends long‑dated debt with performance‑linked features, fits squarely within that mandate.
The path to this closing was not sudden. As early as Nov, Blackstone was reported to be moving to lock down a multibillion‑dollar debt package for Firmus, with Sarah Thompson, Kanika detailing how the firm was structuring the facility to minimise upfront cash outlay while retaining upside exposure. Coatue’s involvement, referenced alongside Blackstone in multiple accounts of the $10 billion package, underscores how crossover investors that once focused on late‑stage equity are now comfortable writing large debt checks into AI infrastructure, as reflected in transaction summaries that list both firms as lead financiers.
Firmus’s strategy: from Nvidia‑backed upstart to AI hub anchor
The financing caps a rapid rise for Firmus Technologies Ltd, which only in Nov raised A$500 million, or $327 Million, in equity to fund an AI data center push, a round that was widely described as Nvidia‑Backed Firmus Raises $327 Million for AI Data Center Push and positioned the company as a preferred partner for the chipmaker’s high‑end GPUs. That earlier capital injection, detailed in funding reports, was earmarked to bring initial capacity online by April and to expand AI infrastructure capacity by 2028, setting the stage for the much larger debt facility that has now arrived.
Firmus’s pitch to lenders and customers alike is that Australia can host a dense cluster of AI factories that combine abundant land, improving renewable energy penetration, and proximity to Asian demand. Descriptions of the new financing repeatedly refer to Firmus as an Australian AI infrastructure developer and artificial intelligence data centre provider, with technology coverage emphasising that the $US10b Blackstone deal is explicitly framed around funding Australian AI factories. Additional commentary from SYDNEY reiterates that Australian AI infrastructure developer Firmus is using the debt package to scale its footprint, as noted in regional summaries that stress both the national identity and sector focus of the company.
Inside the “AI factories”: power, chips and cooling at scale
Firmus and its backers describe the planned sites as AI factories, a term meant to capture the industrial scale of the compute clusters rather than any physical manufacturing. The facilities are designed around dense racks of accelerators, high‑bandwidth networking, and advanced cooling systems that can support both training and inference workloads for large models. A detailed account of the project notes that the USD10 billion Blackstone‑led deal is intended to scale AI factories that deliver efficient inference and training infrastructure, language that appears in project descriptions that highlight the technical ambitions of the build‑out.
Those ambitions are echoed in commentary that frames the $US10bn finance from Blackstone as a way for Firmus to become an AI infrastructure hub, with one account describing it as one of the largest private debt transactions ever undertaken in the sector, a point underscored in deal coverage. Another analysis notes that Firmus secures $14.2bn from Blackstone for AI factories and stresses that the company aims to position Australia as an AI infrastructure hub, a framing that appears in local business reporting that also notes Blackstone’s reputation for smart bets in infrastructure.
Why Australia, and what it means for the AI race
Australia’s appeal in this context rests on a mix of energy, geography, and policy. Firmus executives have argued that the country’s competitive energy profile, including growing renewable generation and relatively stable pricing, makes it an attractive location for power‑intensive AI data centers, a point that appears in commentary that Firmus secures $14.2bn from Blackstone for AI factories and highlights the benefits for Australia, as seen in Australian commentary. The same sources note that the build‑out is expected to generate jobs and spur investment in surrounding industrial zones, tying AI infrastructure directly to the broader local economy, language that is echoed in a deal briefing that stresses the expected spillover benefits.
There is also a strategic narrative at play. One detailed account quotes Firmus as saying that AI is driving one of the biggest infrastructure build‑outs in history, a line attributed to Scott Murdoch and captured in deal analysis, and positions Australia as a natural node in that global network. Multiple reports refer to Firmus as an Australian AI infrastructure developer and artificial intelligence company, including transaction write‑ups and regional coverage that emphasise the national branding. Additional commentary on Firmus sealing a $US10b Blackstone deal to fund Australian AI factories and partnering with leading global investment firm Coatue, as detailed in technology analysis, reinforces the idea that this is as much a geopolitical positioning move as a corporate financing.
