Billionaire Robin Khuda's AirTrunk Expands Western Sydney Empire to $3 Billion, Locks in Oracle as Key Tenant

Blackstone-backed AirTrunk is advancing plans for a massive 1GW hyperscale data centre campus in Western Sydney, with Oracle confirmed as key tenant. The $3 billion project, named "Summit," is being developed by property investor ISPT and would span six four-storey buildings across 52 hectares in Kemps Creek, positioning Sydney's west as an AI and cloud hub.

Robin Khuda's AirTrunk is doubling down on Western Sydney. The Blackstone-backed hyperscale data centre specialist has been named as the conditional buyer of a planned 1GW data centre campus in Kemps Creek, with Oracle locked in as a key tenant. The $3 billion project would see six four-storey buildings constructed on a 52-hectare site at 706-752 Mamre Road, delivering up to 1GW of capacity across 24 data halls.

AirTrunk has already established a powerful presence in the region. Its existing SYD1 campus in Sydney's west delivers over 130MW of capacity, while SYD3, currently under development, will add more than 320MW and is set to become the largest independent hyperscale data centre in the Asia-Pacific region when complete. The new Mamre Road project would join these campuses, creating a connected Western Sydney region that could exceed 1.5GW of capacity.

Oracle Cloud has signed on as a key tenant, securing space in the new development. The deal underscores the growing demand from cloud and AI providers for hyperscale infrastructure in Australia, driven by the rapid adoption of AI and cloud services. AirTrunk already counts major tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Apple among its customers.

The expansion comes as AirTrunk continues its aggressive growth trajectory. Founded in 2015 by Robin Khuda, a Bangladesh-born former accounting student who emigrated to Australia at 18, the company was acquired by Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in 2024 in a deal that valued it at over $24 billion. Khuda, who retains a stake and remains CEO, has led AirTrunk's expansion across Asia-Pacific, including recent entries into India and Malaysia.

"We've only just begun," Khuda said in a LinkedIn post after the Blackstone deal was finalized.

The project sits at the intersection of financial engineering and physical constraint. Blackstone's model for AirTrunk involves acquiring platforms, loading them with project-level debt, and converting stabilized assets into publicly traded securities, with a Singapore-listed REIT IPO reportedly being explored. The Western Sydney campus is a current pressure test: the financing is ready, the demand is there, and the question is whether the grid and the planning system can keep up. Local communities have raised concerns about the project's 1GW power demand and its impact on a regional grid already under pressure from multiple developments.

Here is the question this expansion raises. AirTrunk is building one of the largest AI-ready data centre campuses in the Asia-Pacific, with Oracle as a tenant and Blackstone's financial machine behind it. But when a 1GW campus needs grid upgrades that may take years to deliver, and local communities are pushing back against power-hungry developments, is Australia's infrastructure ready to support the AI boom or is it a bottleneck that could slow the entire pipeline?

As Robin Khuda's AirTrunk expands its Western Sydney empire and locks in Oracle as a key tenant, The Silicon Review asks a final question. When the world's largest data centre investor is betting on Western Sydney and the grid is the only thing standing in the way, which is going to pay for the upgrade?

FAQ:

Q: Where is AirTrunk's new data centre campus in Western Sydney?
A: The campus is located at 706-752 Mamre Road in Kemps Creek, Western Sydney, on a 52-hectare site developed by property investor ISPT.

Q: How big is AirTrunk's Mamre Road data centre project?
A: The project is valued at approximately $3 billion and would span six four-storey buildings with a total capacity of up to 1GW across 24 data halls.

Q: Who is the key tenant at AirTrunk's Mamre Road campus?
A: Oracle Cloud has been confirmed as a key tenant, securing space in the new development.

Q: What is AirTrunk's existing presence in Western Sydney?
A: AirTrunk operates SYD1 (130+MW) in Sydney's west, and SYD3 (320+MW) is under development nearby.

Q: How much did Blackstone pay for AirTrunk?
A: Blackstone and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired AirTrunk in 2024 for over $24 billion.