Global Switch’s second attempt to sell its Australian data centres has been suspended, four sources familiar told Infralogic.

The final bidders were reported by local media in June this month to be the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Stonepeak.

Chinese steel manufacturer Jiangsu Shagang, which owns Global Switch, was not prepared to accept the bids offered of around AUD 2bn (USD 1.3bn), the sources said.

UBS’ Hong Kong office was advising Shagang, they added. They did not specify what Shagang will do next.

CPPIB earlier this month announced it was acquiring 12% of Australia-based data centre company AirTrunk alongside Blackstone in an AUD 24bn deal.

Jiangsu Shagang has tried several times to sell a majority of the Global Switch business globally, as well as the Australian unit.

It restarted a process in March this year to sell the global business after a sale to EQT fell through, as well as put its two Sydney data centres on the market again in a separate sale. The talks with EQT ended due to disagreements on the pricing of the deal.

Shagang tried to sell its Australian data centres separately in 2020. By then, the local assets were already losing many of their Australian government customers due to security fears, given their Chinese ownership.

In 2019, regulators blocked a listing on the HK stock exchange. In 2021, Shagang tried a multitrack approach to list in HK or the US, or a stake sale.

Global Switch has 13 data centres worldwide – in London, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong and Frankfurt – and other cities in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Spokespeople and officials at Jiangsu Shagang, Global Switch, CPPIB and Stonepeak either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.