Australian Data Centre Operator NextDC Pauses All Uncontracted Projects After Melbourne M3 Setback; Shares Had Fallen 42%
Australian data centre operator NextDC (ASX: NXT) said on Monday, November 9, that it would stop work on all projects without customer contracts, following a setback at a facility in Melbourne. Work on the expansion of its flagship M3 data centre in Melbourne was suspended because of power delays and community backlash, which forced the company to cut its earnings forecasts last month and sent its share price tumbling 42%.
Chief Executive Craig Scroggie told the UBS Australasia conference that he had not expected to be dealing with the delays, and that the M3 delay meant the top priority was to win community backing for that project: "anything that didn't have a customer contract and a customer commitment that we absolutely have to deliver on is now no longer a priority." He did not say how many projects would be paused; the company had 11 centres in development or in the planning stages, according to its 2026 annual report. Scroggie said the work could not restart until the company had clearly communicated that it had solved the problem and earned back trust, and described the situation as reflective of the global environment around public engagement and feelings about artificial intelligence and data centres.
Separately, two major rivals, Goodman Group and its New York-listed partner Digital Realty, last week finalised buying a 9.9% stake in NextDC for A$715 million ($492 million) following the share price plunge. Goodman and Digital Realty said they had no plans at the moment to launch a takeover offer but reserved the right to do so, and that they looked forward to a potential collaboration with NextDC's board and management on ways to help address the challenges facing the company. Reuters reported that NextDC's share price has since recovered the ground lost from the earnings writedown.
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Source: NextDC (company
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: NextDC 位于珀斯的 P2 数据中心（资料图）。（Wikimedia Commons／CC0）|NextDC's P2 data center in Perth (file photo). (Wikimedia Commons / CC0)
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