Macquarie Capital Acquired Stake in Developer Zerra DC
The investment strengthens Macquarie’s AI infrastructure portfolio amid a $30 billion Queensland project.
Updated on Oct. 2, 2026 in Data Centers
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Macquarie Capital has acquired an equity stake in Zerra DC, a Singapore-based data center developer with projects across Australia, Japan, and India. This strategic move follows a partnership announced in September 2026 to develop a $30 billion data center project in Queensland.
Why it matters
The investment expands Macquarie Capital's exposure to critical artificial intelligence infrastructure, securing a position in a development pipeline exceeding 2 gigawatts. This deal highlights the accelerating capital flow into large-scale compute facilities required to support major AI model providers.
Zerra DC maintains a development pipeline of more than 2 gigawatts of planned capacity across several international markets. This capacity is anchored by a $30 billion project in Queensland, which counts Anthropic as its anchor tenant.
The players
Macquarie Capital
An investment firm that manages large-scale infrastructure projects and global financial assets.
Zerra DC
A Singapore-based developer focused on data center infrastructure across the Asia-Pacific region.
Anthropic
A major artificial intelligence research and model development company serving as the anchor tenant for the Queensland site.
The details
Macquarie Capital invested capital to secure an equity stake in Zerra DC, which specializes in constructing large-scale physical data center facilities. By partnering with the developer, Macquarie facilitates the build-out of infrastructure designed to support the intensive computational power required for modern artificial intelligence workflows.
Timeline
September 2026: Macquarie and Zerra partnered on the Queensland project.
October 2026: Macquarie Capital announced the stake acquisition in Zerra DC.
The Tech Race
This investment places Macquarie Capital at the forefront of the global race to scale physical compute capacity for artificial intelligence. It mirrors broader trends where institutional investors are bypassing traditional real estate to directly fund the 2-gigawatt-plus pipelines required by lead AI labs.
This deal secures the necessary physical capacity for large-scale AI operations, potentially accelerating the deployment of future high-compute models. While direct consumer benefits remain distant, the scale of this project suggests a long-term increase in cloud infrastructure performance.
The takeaway
The move signals a shift toward deep institutional involvement in the physical architecture powering generative AI. Watch for further capacity updates from the Queensland development site to see if the project adheres to its current 2-gigawatt scale targets.
Further reading
For broader context on the rapid scaling of compute sites, visit our Data Centers section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Australian Financial Review.
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