The Deal

AirTrunk, the Asia-Pacific data centre platform acquired by Blackstone in late 2024 for approximately US$16 billion, is advancing plans to list a real estate investment trust in Singapore that could raise around US$1.5 billion and value the vehicle at roughly US$2.5 billion. The company has begun engaging investment banks to underwrite the initial public offering, with a listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) expected as early as the second half of 2026. If completed at this scale, the AirTrunk REIT would rank among the largest IPOs on the SGX in the past decade and mark a significant milestone for the city-state's ambitions to become the regional hub for data centre capital markets.

  • Targeted IPO Raise: US$1.5 billion
  • Estimated Trust Valuation: US$2.5 billion
  • Blackstone Acquisition Price (2024): ~US$16 billion
  • AirTrunk Operating Capacity: 800+ MW across APAC

The seed portfolio for the REIT is expected to comprise a selection of AirTrunk's stabilised hyperscale data centres across Australia, Japan, and potentially Singapore and Malaysia. AirTrunk currently operates more than 800 megawatts of total capacity, with a development pipeline that extends across key markets including Hong Kong, India, and Indonesia. By injecting income-producing assets into a listed trust, Blackstone would recycle a portion of its original equity while retaining development upside through the remaining platform. This asset-light recycling strategy mirrors Blackstone's approach with other portfolio companies globally, where REIT listings have served as an efficient capital return mechanism.

Market Context

The planned listing arrives at a time when Singapore is actively positioning itself as a listing venue for digital infrastructure trusts. Keppel DC REIT, currently the only pure-play data centre REIT listed on the SGX, trades at a forward yield of approximately 4.5 percent and commands a market capitalisation above S$4 billion. Investor appetite for data centre exposure across APAC has intensified sharply over the past 18 months, driven by surging demand from hyperscale cloud providers and artificial intelligence workloads. According to industry estimates, APAC data centre investment volumes exceeded US$30 billion in 2025, more than double the figure recorded in 2023.

Singapore has simultaneously tightened its moratorium on new data centre land allocation, reinforcing scarcity value for existing operational facilities on the island. That supply constraint, combined with robust demand from multinational cloud operators, has pushed prime data centre effective rents in Singapore up by an estimated 10 to 15 percent year-on-year. For REIT investors, this rental growth trajectory underpins distribution per unit expansion and supports premium valuations relative to traditional commercial property trusts.

What This Means for Investors

An AirTrunk REIT listing would give public market investors direct access to a diversified portfolio of hyperscale data centres across multiple APAC jurisdictions — an exposure that has so far been difficult to obtain outside of private equity or single-market REITs. Yield-focused investors should watch the offering's initial distribution yield closely; based on comparable transactions and Keppel DC REIT's trading multiples, the trust would likely price in the range of 4.0 to 5.0 percent to attract sufficient institutional demand. A yield below 4.0 percent could signal aggressive pricing by the underwriters and limit near-term upside.

Beyond the immediate IPO, the listing could catalyse a broader wave of data centre REIT formations across the region. Digital Edge, Princeton Digital Group, and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres have all been cited by market participants as potential candidates for similar vehicles over the next 12 to 24 months. For property investors evaluating APAC allocations, the emergence of a liquid, listed data centre sector in Singapore strengthens the case for tilting portfolios toward digital infrastructure — particularly as traditional office and retail yields remain under pressure from structural demand shifts. The AirTrunk REIT will serve as a pricing benchmark that shapes capital flows into the sector for years to come.