Allens has advised Keppel on its proposed development of a 720MW data centre campus on a 123 hectare site near Victoria's former Hazelwood power station.
Keppel is a global asset manager and operator, with expertise in sustainability-related solutions across infrastructure, real estate and digital connectivity. Headquartered in Singapore, Keppel operates more than 39 data centre across the Asia Pacific and Europe.
Strategically located within the proposed Gippsland Renewable Energy Zone, the data centre campus is situated at one of Victoria's largest electricity nodes. This could enable a dedicated transmission connection to neighbouring power terminal stations, as well as provide advantageous access to existing water infrastructure and intercity dark fibre networks.
Allens advised Keppel on all aspects of the transaction, including structuring, securing development and acquisition rights, power and network connection, FIRB, financing and competition consideration. The Allens team also assisted Keppel's Singapore counsel with regulatory compliance matters.
'This project represents a transformational opportunity for Australia's digital and AI infrastructure landscape,' said lead Partner David McLeish.
'We are pleased to support Keppel on a development of this scale, which positions Victoria as a leading hub for next-generation compute capacity.'
The advice builds on Allens' expertise in data centre and broader digital infrastructure M&A, financing and development. The firm has previously advised CPP Investments (as part of the Blackstone consortium) on the $24 billion acquisition of AirTrunk, Global Switch on the $2.12 billion sale of its Australian data centre operations, Macquarie Technology on the planning approval, development and leasing of its data centres, and Stockland on its $2 billion M Park innovation precinct including a data centre.
