CSC customers continue to benefit from our early moves into strategic assets: this time via early investment in AI infrastructure

CSC is pleased to announce the successful sale of 50% of its investment in CDC Data Centres (CDC), locking in very strong returns of almost 43%¹  per annum since inception.

The shares were secured by CDC’s existing co-shareholders, Future Fund and Infratil, under their pre-emptive rights, following a competitive international bidding process. CSC retains a 12.04% share of the asset, with governance rights, reflecting our conviction in CDC’s outstanding management team and the growth tailwinds for the asset.

Almost a decade ago, CSC was the first Australian superannuation fund to recognise data centres as critical infrastructure for a digital future. In 2016, after extensive due diligence to identify a high-quality data centre asset, we made a significant and pioneering investment in CDC, well ahead of the emergence of data centres as a more-broadly-recognised infrastructure sector.

CDC has lived up to our expectations as a unique, trusted and innovative provider of highly secure data centres. Our thematic foresight, coupled with a capability to identify the best asset through which to gain managed-risk exposure to technological innovation, has enabled CSC’s investment team to generate outsized returns for CSC’s superannuation customers.

Alison Tarditi, CSC’s Chief Investment Officer, said

“We are pleased to announce this outcome for our customers, which again demonstrates our ‘investment DNA’ as an early mover into future-fit assets. We have developed this capability by recognising governance as an enabler of innovation and commercial reaction speeds. This feature of my team enables us to invest early and selectively, generate super normal returns without bearing super normal risks, and recycle capital opportunistically into emerging opportunities with competitive risk-adjusted returns. We have actively chosen to retain exposure to CDC, to support the business and its outstanding management team to execute on its growth prospects. Prospects that remain underpinned by the twin themes of digitisation and the paramount need for critical infrastructure to be secured.”

About CSC

Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) has over 100 years’ experience in providing superannuation services to employees of the Australian Government and members of the Australian Defence Force. CSC’s mission is to be a trusted and valued partner who achieves long-term investment objectives, guides informed retirement decisions, and gives their members peace of mind that their families and futures are in safe hands.

About CDC

CDC Data Centres is the pre-eminent provider of sovereign, highly secure, and connected large-scale data centres, serving sectors critical to security, social, and economic wellbeing—including Government and National Critical Infrastructure, Research and Education, Hyperscale and Artificial Intelligence. With a total of 2.5GW of capacity across its operational, under construction and development pipeline, CDC is a strategic data centre provider of global scale and a long-term partner to the largest and most important organisations in the world that drive progress.