Data Center Investment News — 09/12/2022
Adams Street Partners closes $1.1bn fund
Private investment firm Adams Street Partners, LLC has held the final closing of the Adams Street 2022 Global Fund Program with approximately US$1.1 billion in committed capital.
The Global Fund Program is a private markets portfolio spanning all of Adams Street’s investment strategies, including primaries, secondaries, co-investments, growth equity, and private credit, across North America, Europe, and Asia, the group said.
This year’s Global Fund Program saw demand despite market volatility, closing with commitments 20% higher than initial internal targets. Investors in the 2022 Global Fund Program included public and corporate pension plans, foundations, and endowments, with increased interest in the Program from registered investment advisors and high-net-worth individuals.
There was strong representation from both new and returning investors globally, the company added.
Temasek sets up Paris office in search of EU deal flow
Singapore-based investment company Temasek said it will open a new office in Paris, which will be operational in H1 2023.
Together with its London and Brussels offices, the group said its Paris office will strengthen Temasek’s global network, and help enhance access to deal flow, partnership opportunities and the talent pool across both the European Union (EU) and the broader Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
With the new Paris office, Temasek’s global footprint will increase to 13 offices across nine countries.
Dilhan Pillay, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings, said: “This new office is part of our 2030 strategy to expand our global network, construct a resilient portfolio and grow our organisation, talent and capabilities, with sustainability at the core.
Swiss data centre operator Green closes half billion Dollar refinancing
InfraVia Capital Partners-backed data centre operator Green has completed the refinancing of its existing facilities with the closing of a refinancing package of CHF 480 million (US$512 million) from international and Swiss banks.
The funds will enable Switzerland-based Green to accelerate its development strategy and to fund the next phase of its growth journey, the company said.
The refinancing package will be used to fund the expansion of Green’s current capacity from 33MW in Zurich to 81MW through the construction of additional capacity in the Dielsdorf campus, the expansion of the existing campus in Lupfig and through opportunities of new campuses in Switzerland.
Roger Süess, CEO of Green, said: “With the acceleration of the growth program, Green is responding to the high demand from hyperscale companies who put their trust in Green when it comes to geo-redundant solutions. Green provides space, networks and sustainable growth to the benefit of hyperscale companies, enterprises and Switzerland as a whole.”
Macquarie-backed operator vies $1.8bn acquisition of Odata
Macquarie Asset Management-backed data centre operator Aligned Data Centers is in talks to acquire Pátria Investments-owned LATAM developer Odata, according to sources.
The two parties are said to be in “advanced discussions” with a potential deal targeting a US$1.8 billion asking price, they told Bloomberg.
The people also said that no guarantees of a deal can be given at this stage and the conditions could change or even the entire transaction be called off.
Launched in 2015, Odata is headquartered in São Paulo and is currently investing north of US$300 million in expanding its footprint across Latin America.
Empyrion DC appoints Yongsuk Choi as Chief Strategy and Infrastructure Officer
Singaporean data center firm Empyrion DC has appointed Yongsuk Choi as its chief strategy and infrastructure officer.
Empyryion said in his new role Choi will drive the company’s strategy and infrastructure blueprint, with a specific focus on investing in and operating key green physical assets.
“I have every confidence that Yongsuk will lead the successful implementation of Empyrion DC’s strategy and infrastructure blueprint as we move full speed ahead to build out our platform and meet customer demand,” said Mark Fong, CEO of Empyrion DC.
Choi was most recently the co-founder and chief infrastructure operations officer at Digital Edge, and spent more than 15 years at Facebook/Meta and Yahoo.
PAG’s Flow and Ayala Land break ground on Laguna data center in the Philippines
Ayala Land, Inc. and PAG’s Flow Digital Infrastructure have broken ground on a data center outside Manila, the Philippines.
Located in Laguna, the three-building M1 campus facility will offer up to 36MW. The initial roll-out of 6MW is targeted to be ready for service by the end of 2024.
Asia-focused investment manager PAG Real Estate launched Flow, a new investment platform focused on digital infrastructure in APAC, in late 2021. This is the platform’s first facility.
Ayala Land, Inc. is a real estate firm based in the Philippines and a subsidiary of the Ayala Corporation conglomerate. Earlier this year Ayala Corp. took a stake in Globe Telecom’s newly-carved out data center unit alongside STT GDC.
Princeton Digital Group launches 48MW data center in Navi Mumbai, India
Princeton Digital Group (PDG) has launched a new data center in Navi Mumbai, India. The development is the company’s first data center in the country.
Built on a six-acre site in the Airoli area of the city, MU1 offers 48MW of capacity across two buildings and has achieved IGBC Platinum certification.
The company said it has invested $300 million in the project, which will be targeting hyperscalers and large enterprises.
Rangu Salgame, Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of PDG said, “India is one of the fastest growing data center markets in the world today and is a key focus market for PDG. We are committed to delivering hyperscale grade capacity at global standards to our customers in India. The launch of MU1 further strengthens our position as a leading Pan-Asia datacenter operator, that is focused on creating sustainable value and being an enabler of digital growth. Our continued track record of delivering on our commitments is a key factor that makes PDG the partner of choice for hyperscalers across Asia Pacific.”
CapitaLand signs MoU with Telangana government for 36MW data center in Hyderabad, India
Singaporean real estate investment firm CapitaLand is planning a new data center in Hyderabad, India.
CapitaLand India Trust Management Pte. Ltd., trustee-manager of CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT, and formerly known as Ascendas India Trust), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Telangana government to develop a data center at CLINT’s International Tech Park Hyderabad (ITPH), located at Madhapur.
Targeting hyperscalers, the ITPH data center will have a built-up area of approximately 250,000 sq ft and 36MW of capacity. The site will include dedicated gas insulated substation.
CapitaLand said it intends to invest approximately Rs 1,200 Crores (S$210 million/US$154.6m) into the project. Plans for a Hyderabad facility were first announced in June 2022.
STT GDC completes construction work on first Indonesian data center
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has completed construction work on a data center outside Jakarta, its first in Indonesia.
First announced in May 2021, the company this week announced the topping off of STT Jakarta 1. Located in Bekasi Regency, close to Jakarta’s eastern border, the TIA-942 Rated-3 facility has a Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 18,000 square meters (193750 sq ft).
The new facility is the first building of a data center campus developed under a joint venture with leading Indonesian conglomerate Triputra Group and global investment company Temasek (which owns STT GDC).
Once completed, the campus will support up to 72MW of capacity, with STT Jakarta 1 supporting up to 19.5MW when operational in Q2 2023. STT GDC’s local unit, PT STT GDC Indonesia, has already agreed a land contract to build a second data center at the campus.
Aligned planning 1.3 million sq ft and 192MW of capacity at Quantum Loophole’s Maryland campus
Aligned has outlined the scale of its data center development at the 2,100-acre Quantum Loophole campus in Frederick County, Maryland.
Quantum Loophole is creating a gigawatt-scale data center campus on the site of a former aluminum smelting plant 20 miles north of Ashburn in Maryland.
In May 2022, Aligned Data Centers became the first company to publicly announce plans to develop a data center at the Quantum Loophole campus. Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned Data Centers, said at the time that the “attractive tax exemptions, power availability, and proximity to Northern Virginia” were key drivers in its decision to choose Frederick County.
While the company didn’t outline the size of its development of the site at the time of the announcement, it has now revealed the scale of its project there.
Digital Edge Enters Philippines’ Data Center Market
NARRA1 set to be the most energy efficient and largest carrier neutral facility in the market.
Digital Edge, one of the data center platforms with the quickest rate of expansion in Asia, has announced that its brand-new 10MW data center in Manila would be “RFS” as of 1 March 2023. When this data center is finished, it will be Digital Edge’s first entry into the Philippine market and a step closer to the company’s goal of closing the digital divide in South East Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
NARRA1 is a joint venture with the Threadborne Group, a local family business with an emphasis on real estate and technology. It seeks to fill any unfulfilled demand from the Philippines’ data center colocation industry, which Structure Research predicts would reach US$313 million by 2026 with a double-digit growth rate (22% CAGR).
According to Digital Edge, several significant domestic internet service providers have already made reservations for the new data center.
STACK & ESR To Develop 72MW Data Center in Osaka, Japan as Part of Their APAC Partnership Expansion
STACK Infrastructure, a leading global developer and operator of data centers, and ESR Group Limited, an Asia focused Real Estate services and investment company, today announced a joint venture to develop a 72MW data center campus in Osaka, Japan.
In the eastern suburb of Osaka known as Keihanna, STACK and ESR will jointly develop and supply 72MW of data center capacity. The first of the three buildings will begin construction in Q4 2023 and be completed by Q2 2025. The facility, which will be run under the STACK name, will strengthen the APAC relationship between STACK and ESR, which already includes a 48MW data center project in Incheon, Korea.
The strategically located campus will have strong network and power access to guarantee high reliability. The scalability to meet future expansion expectations is offered to hyperscale, cloud, and large business clients through several solution options, from colocation to custom build-to-suit.
As workloads change, higher rack densities and industry-leading PUE, WUE, and building requirements complement sustainability goals.
Floating data centres come ashore in Marseille and Los Angeles
Floating data centres developer Nautilus Data Technologies has signed leases for two new locations, Marseille, France and Los Angeles, California.
Both sites will accommodate a 7.5-megawatt data centre facility, with power agreements and water assessments already in place, the firm said.
According to the group, the Nautilus cooling technology consumes no water and operates using 30% less power. This, the company claims, makes them the most efficient and sustainable data centres available on the market.
The Marseille site location is less than three kilometres from the nearest cable landing station and close to other major access points. Marseille is a trans-Atlantic gateway and aggregation point, linking Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia via subsea cables AAE-1, SEA-ME-WE-5, and other links.
Africa Data Centres to expand Sameer facility by 15MW
Africa Data Centres (ADC) has confirmed plans to expand its Sameer facility in Nairobi by up to 15MW of IT load.
For the project ADC has secured a piece of land adjacent to its existing data centre in Nairobi, Kenya, and the build will be completed in the first half of 2024 delivering five times more than the current capacity.
“Colocation has become the foundation of African digital transformation and will be for the foreseeable future,” said Hardy Pemhiwa, group president & CEO of Cassava Technologies.
“Our investment into expanding our data centre operations in Kenya is in line with the increasing demand that we are experiencing due to the significant increase in the adoption of digital services in the East African region”.
Kao Data investor Goldacre to build 16MW Tel Aviv data centre
Goldacre, a major shareholder in UK data centre company Kao Data, is to build a new 16MW data centre in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv.
This Israeli investment – a partnership between Goldacre’s NED platform and the Levinstein Group, an Israeli engineering, construction and real estate company – plans to develop a 13,500 sq m site at a cost of £135 million.
David Bloom (pictured), founder of Goldacre, said: “This is huge moment for both Goldacre and NED, having signed the deal on this site which is set to transform the Israeli data centre industry further and ensure we are a key part of this rapidly growing industry.”
Daniel Efrati, CEO of NED Data Centres, said: “As the demand for data centres grows each year, we are committed to being part of the driving force meeting, and exceeding, these demands. This is a significant project, set to be delivered to the highest standards through our backing from Goldacre and partnership with Levinstein.”