Oct 16 (Reuters) - U.S.-based data center developer

DataBank has raised nearly A$3 billion ($2.01 billion) in a bid

to build three planned facilities across the United States, with

pension fund AustralianSuper leading the raise.

AustralianSuper, the country's largest pension fund, on

Wednesday said it had committed A$2.2 billion to DataBank's

raising and would emerge as a minority owner of the U.S.-based

firm. The pension fund would also appoint a company's board

director.

The raising is the latest sign of growing investor appetite

in artificial intelligence, which in turn has resulted in a

boost for data centre proposals.

Deals in the data centre space have increased globally due

to the growing popularity of AI with Blackstone's A$24

billion acquisition of Australian AirTrunk in the spotlight.

DataBank's controlling investor, DigitalBridge ( DBRG/PJ ),

which appoints a majority of the company's board, also

participated in the raising.

($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars)