(Reuters) -Australia's NEXTDC has launched debt syndication worth A$2.9 billion ($1.94 billion) to facilitate further expansion and acquisition of data centres in the Asia-Pacific region, it said on Thursday.

The data centre operator's ambitions are in tandem with an intense pace of deals as countries and companies seek more data capacity to tap into the artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy.

NEXTDC's debt syndication follows another capital raising of A$750 million in total announced on Tuesday, comprising a share purchase plan capped at A$200 million and a placement of A$550 million, which is now complete.

"The new 5- and 7-year facilities provide optimal pricing, improved terms, and extended duration...as we execute on our ambitious growth agenda with the support of both bank and bond markets," Craig Scroggie, chief executive officer and managing director of NEXTDC said in a statement.

The firm currently has nine data centre sites actively under development, including in Malaysia, Japan, Thailand and New Zealand, it said.

($1 = 1.4981 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala)