Data Center Investment News — 1/11/2024
Former Involta CEO Jim Buie joins Tonaquint Data Centers
US data center firm Tonaquint has appointed Jim Buie as its new chief executive officer. He replaces Matt Hamlin, who had led the company for more than 16 years.
Buie has previously held leadership positions at Ark Data Centers (formerly Involta) as CEO, as well as roles at Flexential (formerly ViaWest), Comcast, and AT&T.
Buie said it was an “honor” to take on his new role. “As we move forward, we are taking a modern approach to data center solutions, focusing on cutting-edge technologies, while sustaining our reliability and resiliency, and solving our customers’ power, compute, and capacity challenges,” he said. “We understand the unique complexities and opportunities that enterprises face when it comes to managing their IT infrastructure.”
“Jim Buie is an invaluable addition to the Tonaquint executive team. We’re confident that his exemplary leadership and expertise will elevate Tonaquint to even greater heights as a premier data center solution provider,” said Kanan Joshi, partner, co-head North America and head of digital infrastructure at CVC DIF. “We look forward to a brand new chapter of growth and expansion, continuing to create lasting value for our customers and partners.”
Outgoing CEO Hamlin had been involved with the Tonaquint team since its inception, having joined from InterLinx, an open-access telecommunications company.
KKR signs $50bn partnership with ECP for data center and power development
KKR has signed a $50 billion strategic partnership with American investment firm Energy Capital Partners (ECP).The partnership will focus on accelerating data center, power generation, and transmission infrastructure development to support the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing worldwide.
“With our combined footprint and capabilities, we have a more than 8GW existing data aenter pipeline, 100GW of currently operating and development-ready power generation, and significant experience working with stakeholders across both industries to help realize this opportunity quickly and responsibly,” said Waldemar Szlezak, partner and global head of digital infrastructure, KKR.
The collaboration aims to support large-scale model training, tuning, and inferencing across different regions. The partners will work with industry players, including utilities, power producers, and data center developers, to speed up the development of large data center campuses for hyperscalers
KKR will fund the partnership using its existing infrastructure, real estate strategies, and insurance accounts. ECP will fund it through existing and future infrastructure capital pools.
COPT plans 1GW data center campus outside Des Moines, Iowa
COPT Defense Properties is planning a gigawatt-scale campus in Iowa.The company this week announced it acquired a 365-acre land parcel near Des Moines in late September for $32 million to expand its data center shell program.
The existing zoning on the land allows for data center development, with COPT saying initial plans indicate the site can accommodate approximately 3.3 million square feet (306,580 sqm) of development and 1GW of power capacity. The site could total 15 buildings, each spanning 220,000 sq ft (20,440 sqm), and two substations.
Stephen E. Budorick, COPT Defense’s president & CEO, said: “Our land acquisition outside of Des Moines, Iowa provides a significant opportunity for us to expand our highly successful data center shell program to a new market.
Des Moines, the fifth largest hyperscale market in the country is already home to several of the largest hyperscalers in the world, which are drawn to the market given attractive land values, power availability, with abundant access to renewable energy, access to long-haul fiber lines, and tax incentives enacted by supportive state and local governments.
Equinix plans two data centers in Bangkok, Thailand
Equinix is to expand its data center footprint into Thailand.The company this week announced an intention to invest approximately $500 million in Thailand in phases over the next ten years, including the recent acquisition of land in Bangkok for approximately $34m.
.The newly acquired land in the Bangna area of Bangkok, covering over 18,700 sqm (201,285 sq ft), will be used to establish two Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers, providing more than 3,375 cabinets at full build-out. Timelines for development weren’t shared.
Cyrus Adaggra, VP of corporate development, Asia-Pacific, Equinix, said: “Thailand stands at the forefront of digital growth in Southeast Asia, with immense untapped potential as it becomes a key player in the region’s digital economy. Equinix’s entry in Bangkok is yet another milestone advancing our overarching strategy to enhance interconnection across Thailand and Southeast Asia.
The move is reportedly in response to the “increasing needs of both enterprises and major cloud service providers,” driven by Thailand’s proximity to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam and the government’s “proactive” Cloud First Policy.
US Navy to build data center at Camp Blaz base in Guam
The US Department of Defense (DoD) is seeking contractors to construct a new data center at its Camp Blaz base in Guam. In a tender shared on SAM.gov, the DoD revealed plans to construct a “multi-story communications center facility” to support the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam operations
The scope of work is estimated to cost between $250m and $500m, and will include “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility construction work in accordance with ICD/ICS 705 and demolition and incidental related work.”
The secure facility can only be constructed by US companies with US citizens, adds the tender.
The work, in addition to the communication facility, will include the construction of two single-story warehouse facilities and the OSP Fiber Line SONET Ring. In total, the contract is expected to run for almost three and a half years.
Bridge DC signs 200MW data center JV with Malaysia’s Mah Sing
APAC operator Bridge Data Centres is forming a data center joint venture in Malaysia, with a 200MW development planned outside Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian developer Mah Sing Group Berhad this week announced a second deal with Bridge, expanding on a land purchase secured earlier this year.
Mah Sing’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Southville City SDN, signed a collaboration agreement with Bridge for the joint venture development of data centers on 36 acres of land in the Mah Sing DC Hub@Southville City in Bangi, Selangor. The site reportedly has 200MW of potential power capacity.
Mah Sing’s founder and group managing director, Leong Hoy Kum said: “This collaboration underscores Mah Sing’s commitment to building cutting-edge digital infrastructure. Our 30-year track record of rapid project execution makes us the ideal partner for data center players seeking speed to market and scalability. This is just the beginning of many opportunities for Mah Sing to shape Malaysia’s digital future.”
“We are excited to expand our collaboration with Mah Sing, which significantly boosts BDC’s capacity resources in Malaysia. This partnership reinforces BDC’s commitment to investing in Malaysia’s digital infrastructure as a leading data center provider in the region, while consistently delivering exceptional service to our clients,” said Eric Fan, CEO of Bridge Data Centres.
The 35 acres under the joint venture cover two plots adjacent to the 17.5 acres Bridge acquired earlier this year.
Vantage breaks ground on New Albany data center in Ohio
Vantage Data Centers has broken ground on a new data center campus outside Columbus, Ohio. Situated on 70 acres outside Columbus in New Albany, OH1 will provide a total of 192MW of IT capacity across more than 1.5 million square feet (139,355 sqm). The company said more than $2 billion will be invested in the project, with the first of three buildings slated to open in late 2025
.“We’re excited to add the Buckeye state to our growing North America platform. Ohio is a strategic market for us and our hyperscale customers, and we appreciate the warm welcome we’ve received from business, government, and community leaders,” said Dana Adams, president of North America at Vantage Data Centers. “Our investment in New Albany will further strengthen the state’s economy and its reputation as a hub for technology and innovation, and we look forward to being a collaborative partner here in central Ohio.”
Power to the site will provided by American Electric Power Ohio.
News that Vantage was expanding into New Albany surfaced in June. The facility is located at 3475 Horizon Ct. inside Lincoln Property Co.’s Silicon Heartland Innovation Park.
Walla Walla officials green light land sale for $4.8bn data center campus in Washington
A large data center project in southwest Washington has been given the initial green light by officials. As reported by local press including the Tri-City Herald and Elkhorn Media Group, The Port of Walla Walla commission voted unanimously this week to sell 500 acres of land at its Wallula Gap Business Park to Advance Phase LLC for $32.5 million for its planned data center campus.
As reported earlier this month, Advance reportedly aims to develop a $4.8 billion campus totaling 16 buildings. The company intends to build its data centers in four phases of 125 acres each; each phase would feature four 215,000 square foot (19,975 sqm) buildings, for a total of more than 3.4 million sq ft (315,870 sqm).
The port knows the identity of the company operating behind the alias, but said it was bound by a nondisclosure agreement. The company behind Advanced is reportedly in top 30 of the Fortune 500 – which would count technology companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google-owner Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta amongst the list of potentials.
DigitalBridge acquires data center developer Yondr
DigitalBridge is to acquire data center developer Yondr. Alternative asset manager DigitalBridge Group this week announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Yondr Group through one of its managed investment funds. The deal is expected to close in early 2025. Terms were not disclosed.
Yondr will continue to operate as an independent company within DigitalBridge’s portfolio, which includes Vantage, Switch, DataBank, Scala, and others.
“Yondr’s assets and strong relationships with leading hyperscale clients align with DigitalBridge’s vision to support the future of digital infrastructure,” said Jon Mauck, senior managing director at DigitalBridge. “Yondr enhances our existing data center portfolio and strengthens our ability to support hyperscalers. Together, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the increasing demand for hyperscale data centers – fueled by AI, cloud computing, and the ongoing digital transformation across industries.”
Yondr has more than 420MW of capacity committed to hyperscalers, with “significant” additional land to support a total potential capacity of over 1GW, according to DigitalBridge.
Headquartered in London and owned by single-family investment office Cathexis, Apollo Global Management, and Mubadala, Yondr is a developer, owner, and operator of data centers. The company currently has a contracted capacity of 878MW, with 58MW currently operational. The company has projects in Virginia, UK, Malaysia, Japan, Germany, and India.
CDC breaks ground on 504MW campus in Sydney
Australian operator Canberra Data Centres (CDC) has broken ground on its 504MW data center campus in the Marsden Park Industrial Precinct in Sydney. Announced in a recent LinkedIn post, the operator said its campus will feature six four-story data center buildings, each housing up to 24 data halls and supporting office space.
The 20.1-hectare campus will also see the construction of a dedicated 720MVA substation and 40 generators. CDC has also filed to develop an additional 5MW facility on the site. The AU$1.4 billion (US$934.5m) project will accommodate cloud and AI workloads and will create more than 10,000 jobs during the construction and operational phases.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by the Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic and Blacktown City Council Mayor Brad Bunting.CDC currently operates a campus in the Eastern Creek area of Sydney. The 281MW campus features four operational data centers – EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4 – with and two under construction (EC5, EC6).
RackBank launches AI-ready data center in Indore
RackBank has announced the launch of India’s first purpose-built AI data centre near Indore in the centre of India. Construction will take place over four 20MW phases and the facility is designed to accommodate 60,000 GPUs and has 80MW power capacity. RackBank said the site is set to begin operations in Q4 2024, with plans for full capacity by Q3 2025.
RackBank has announced the launch of India’s first purpose-built AI data centre near Indore in the centre of India. Construction will take place over four 20MW phases and the facility is designed to accommodate 60,000 GPUs and has 80MW power capacity.RackBank said the site is set to begin operations in Q4 2024, with plans for full capacity by Q3 2025.
RackBank praised The Government of Madhya Pradesh (the state in which Indore is located) for playing a crucial role in making this project a reality.
“We are proud to support RackBank in establishing this cutting-edge AI data centre in Madhya Pradesh,” said Sanjay Dubey, additional chief secretary IT, science and technology for the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
“This initiative aligns perfectly with our vision to make our state a hub for technological innovation and will contribute significantly to India’s digital infrastructure.”
Cordiant Digital Infrastructure forms Belgium data center platform with two acquisitions
Specialist digital infrastructure investor Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (LON: CORD) has acquired two Belgium data centre portfolios, a filing on the London Stock Exchange shows. In a complex transaction, Brussels’s listed infrastructure investor TINC says it has agreed to sell a 50% of its portfolio company Datacenter United (DCU) to CORD, while DCU has agreed to acquire the data centre business of Proximus, a Belgium telecoms company.
CORD and another of its managed funds say it will acquire a 47.5% economic interest in the combined group for a total equity consideration of €92.3 million (US$100.3 million).It will secure 47.5% of the share capital of DCU via a mix of new primary equity and secondary share acquisitions from both TINC and DCU’s CEO Friso Haringsma. This part of the deal has an enterprise value of €72.5 million.
The new primary equity will provide funding for DCU’s acquisition of the PDC Business.
DCU has agreed to acquire the PDC Business from Proximus Group for an enterprise value of €128 million. Prior to closing, the PDC Business will be transferred to a newly formed company and DCU will acquire the entire share capital of this entity.
Following completion of the DCU transaction, TINC will continue to hold 47.5% of the share capital of DCU and Haringsma will own 5%.
CORD and TINC will each own 50% of the voting rights of the combined group, as Haringsma’s stake does not include voting rights.
The combined group has a total IT capacity of 12MW. DCU operates nine data centres across 8 locations in Belgium, while Proximus’ data centre business consists of 4 data centres across 3 locations. The group has a capacity expansion potential of an additional 11.1MW, most of which can be built across the existing 11 locations, Cordiant said in its statement. In addition to retaining his 5% share, Haringsma will become the CEO of the combined group. Steven Marshall, chairman of Cordiant Digital, will become chairman of the group’s board of directors.
Google eyes $600m data center expansion in North Carolina
Alphabet’s (NASDA: GOOGL) cloud unit Google Cloud is mulling over a substantial expansion of its data centre operations in Caldwell County, North Carolina.The proposed US$600 million investment has gained traction as local authorities have greenlit incentives to support the project.
The envisioned expansion would encompass a 60-acre plot in Lenoir, bordering Google’s current data centre campus. Should the plan come to fruition, it could generate 30 new full-time positions in this city of 18,000, situated near Hickory and roughly 75 miles northwest of Charlotte.
A Google representative commented on the potential growth: “We are assessing options to enlarge our Caldwell County data centre campus. While specific development timelines are yet to be determined, we are keen to secure the flexibility for future expansion in line with our business needs.”
This development would further cement the Hickory area’s reputation as a magnet for tech giants’ data centres, with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) already maintaining facilities in the adjacent Catawba County.
eStruxture pumps over $530m into data center in Alberta
In an investment for Alberta’s digital infrastructure, Canadian data centre provider eStruxture Data Centers is set to invest over CA$750 million (roughly US$538.8 million) to fully develop CAL-3, what will be Alberta’s largest data centre facility, the company claims.
Located in Rocky View County, north of Calgary, Canada, CAL-3 is expected to be operational by fall 2026, designed to deliver 90MW of power to meet the surging needs of AI and cloud technology providers.
“CAL-3 is a significant, strategic investment, not only for eStruxture but for Alberta’s rapidly evolving digital and AI landscape,” said Todd Coleman, founder, president, and CEO of eStruxture.
“This expansion reinforces our commitment to driving the province’s digital economy forward, offering scalable and sustainable infrastructure that meets the growing demands of AI and cloud service providers. Calgary is pivotal to Canada’s tech future, and we’re proud to support its growth with this cutting-edge facility.”
CoreWeave plans $1.2 billion New Jersey data center
AI hyperscaler CoreWeave is expanding its data centre operations in its home state of New Jersey. The rapidly growing GPU infrastructure provider will lease a building at The Northeast Science & Technology Center (NEST) in Kenilworth.
CoreWeave has entered a long-term agreement with real estate investment and property services firm Onyx Equities and real estate investment platform Machine Investment Group to develop the campus. US$1.2 billion has been allocated to transform the 280,000-square-foot facility.
CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator emphasised the importance of the move, noting that new Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has played a key role in fostering a supportive environment for AI businesses in the state.
“CoreWeave’s commitment to invest over a billion dollars at the NEST campus demonstrates New Jersey’s leading role in artificial intelligence, and our innovation strategies are working,” Murphy agreed.
“Through collaboration with utilities, government, investors, and real estate developers, we’re committed to attracting businesses that will build an innovation economy for the future,” he added.
The new data centre aims to enhance CoreWeave’s infrastructure while positioning NEST as a hub for data processing and biopharma innovation.
Saigontel plan new data center in Ho Chi Minh City
Saigon Telecommunication Technology Joint Stock Company (Saigontel) has expressed strong interest in developing a new Data Center Project within Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park.
Baodautu reported that Saigontel submitted a proposal to the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and related authorities. Their commitment was further emphasized by offering a letter of support for collaboration with Saigon Asset Management Company at the upcoming “Autumn Forum of Ho Chi Minh City – New York” held on October 29, 2024, in New York City.
The proposal aligns with Ho Chi Minh City’s investment strategy and the development plan for the Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park. The Management Board of Export Processing and Industrial Zones of Ho Chi Minh City (Hepza) has acknowledged this by issuing document No. 3081/BQL-DT on October 18, 2024. They have expressed support and willingness to work with Saigontel to ensure a smooth and legal implementation process for the project.
Ho Chi Minh City is actively seeking further investments in data centers, including projects in the City Hi-Tech Park.