NEXTDC $1.5 Billion Retail Offer Opens as 544MW Forward Order Book Funds Australia's AI Data Centre Build

At a glance

• 544MW pro forma Forward Order Book already contracted as at 31 March 2026, after a record 250MW of new contracted utilisation in a single quarter.

• Contracted EBITDA in excess of A$1.0 billion, more than four times the midpoint of FY26 Underlying EBITDA guidance, with demand moving into delivery rather than pipeline.

• A$2.2 billion capital programme fully assembled, combining A$1.5 billion in equity (A$1.0bn institutional at ~98% take-up, A$0.5bn retail now open) and A$1.0 billion in La Caisse backed hybrid notes, with the A$750m first tranche priced on 23 April.

• Retail leg open at A$12.70 until 5:00pm AEST, 11 May 2026, extending institutional terms to approximately 50,000 Australian shareholders with a Top Up Facility of up to 100% of existing holdings.

NEXTDC's institutional book closed last week with approximately 98% take-up, raising close to A$1.0 billion at A$12.70 per share under a 1-for-5.4 pro-rata accelerated non-renounceable structure. The retail leg opened on 27 April, targeting a further A$0.5 billion on identical terms and closing at 5:00pm AEST on Monday 11 May 2026, with new shares issued 18 May.

What the capital is underwriting is the more important story for the data centre sector. NEXTDC's Q3 FY26 update confirmed 250MW of new contracted utilisation in a single quarter, lifting pro forma contracted utilisation 60% to 667MW and the pro forma Forward Order Book 83% to 544MW as at 31 March 2026. Management expects contracted EBITDA from existing utilisation plus the Forward Order Book to exceed A$1.0 billion, more than four times the midpoint of FY26 Underlying EBITDA guidance. As CEO Craig Scroggie framed it, "this is not pipeline, this is contracted demand already moving into delivery". That trajectory is consistent with the broader pattern documented in our previous analysis.

What has shifted this week

First, NEXTDC on 23 April priced and allocated $750 million of wholesale subordinated notes, the first tranche of a $1.0 billion hybrid securities programme backed by Québec's La Caisse, which materially strengthens near term liquidity for the build pipeline. Second, NXT closed at A$14.67 on 27 April, placing the A$12.70 retail issue price at a discount of approximately 13% to the last traded price, a spread that historically supports higher retail participation and uptake of Top Up Facilities.

Capital stack supporting the build programme

Forward Order Book readout

Why this matters for the sector

For data centre operators and enterprise IT buyers, the significance is less about the equity raise and more about what 544MW of contracted capacity implies for the Australian market over the next 24 months. The hyperscale and AI-heavy composition of NEXTDC's order book, underwritten against the backdrop of Microsoft's A$25 billion Australian AI commitment, compresses the window for new entrants and tightens available certified capacity across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The proceeds are calibrated to accelerate the build programme examined in their A$1.5 billion raise to power Western Sydney AI capacity, with Horsley Park among the largest uses of proceeds within the A$2.2bn programme.

The connectivity layer is an equally important part of the story. Operators can cross reference S4 Horsley Park and the full NEXTDC certified footprint on the CertifiedStrategic infrastructure maps, alongside SUBCO's diverse fibre paths into NEXTDC S1, S2, S3, S4 and S6, the sovereign routing that makes contracted AI workloads resilient at this scale.

Interactive: the build-out from approval to twin-node

S4's regulatory milestones, the direct NSW transmission energisation in mid-2026, and the S7 Eastern Creek twin-node ramp — drag the timeline to step quarter-by-quarter.

A balancing observation, holders who do not participate in the offer will be diluted by roughly 15.6% on a 1-for-5.4 basis, and the hybrid layer adds fixed servicing costs against an EBITDA base that, while contracted, remains to be delivered across a multi year construction cycle.