US private equity giant Blackstone on Wednesday announced a US$16 billion deal to buy Sydney-based data centre operator AirTrunk, part of an effort to hoover up AI-linked assets in the Asia-Pacific.

Blackstone President Jon Gray announced the deal, described by the firm as "Blackstone's largest investment in the Asia Pacific region".

AirTrunk runs 11 "hyperscale" data centres in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, serving the burgeoning market for cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Gray said the purchase was a "highest conviction" bet on that market growing.

"AirTrunk is another vital step as Blackstone seeks to be the leading digital infrastructure investor in the world across the ecosystem, including data centres, power and related services," he said.

The deal will be subject to regulatory approval, but is already being hailed as one of the largest mergers and acquisitions in Australia this year.

AirTrunk was founded by Bangladesh-born Robin Khuda, who came to Australia as a university student.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was also invested in Wednesday's deal.