CapitaLand Investment establishes China data centre development fund with $1 bil in investments

CapitaLand Investment establishes China data centre development fundCapitaLand Investment (CLI) has created a China data centre development fund to capitalise on the growing demand for digital infrastructure in the country. Named CapitaLand China Data Centre Partners (CDCP), the fund has committed to invest $1 billion in two hyperscale data centre development projects located in Greater Beijing. 80% of the total equity commitment of $530 million was invested by existing and new global institutional investor clients with CLI holding the remaining 20%. The completion of the projects is expected in 2025 and will have the capacity to deliver over 100 megawatts (MW) of power to the capital.

In addition to its location in the vicinity of key network nodes of leading Chinese cloud service providers and internet companies, the data centres are set to be designed and built to meet LEED Gold standards and will incorporate energy-saving solutions such as high efficiency fan wall cooling systems as well as recycling waste heat from the servers.

Patrick Boocock, CEO of CLI’s private equity alternative assets, noted that this foray into China’s data centre market is in line with its strategy to grow its FUM of new economy assets and enhance long-term business resilience.

“We are seeing strong investor interest as the surge in demand for cloud computing, 5G technology, and e-commerce are driving growth in this sector,” he explained.

China’s data centre market is projected to grow 24% annually until 2025, and with its established infrastructure and wide network in the country, CLI is well-positioned to capitalise on this opportunity. CLI currently has a total of $46 billion AUM in the country.

Puah Tze Shyang, CEO of CLI China, added, “We are actively building our capabilities in real assets and growing our alternative assets platform. CDCP is our third data centre development fund, and we are excited to bring our capabilities to the China market and advance our ambition of becoming a major global digital infrastructure player.”

Meanwhile, managing director at CLI’s private funds, Michelle Lee said, “We are able to leverage our wide network and deep expertise to bring quality assets to international investors who are keen to invest in China. There is strong interest in CLI’s future data centre projects in China and Asia Pacific at large, and we are actively seeking to grow in this sector.”

CapitaLand Investment (CLI) recently established a $1 billion China data centre development fund to capitalise on the growing demand for digital infrastructure in the country. Named CapitaLand China Data Centre Partners (CDCP), the fund committed to invest in two hyperscale data centre development projects in Greater Beijing.

The two data centres are expected to be completed in 2025 and will have the capacity to deliver over 100 megawatts (MW) of power to the capital. Once completed, they will leverage on their close proximity to established data centre clusters and key network nodes of leading Chinese cloud service providers and internet companies.

Led by CEO of CLI’s private equity alternative assets, Patrick Boocock, CLI’s foray into the data centre market is in line with its strategy to grow its funds under management (FUM) of new economy assets and enhance long-term business resilience.

Puah Tze Shyang, CEO of CLI China, said, “As a leading global real estate investment manager, we are able to leverage our wide network and deep expertise to bring quality assets to international investors who are keen to invest in China across different asset classes including data centres. CLI has $46 billion of AUM in the country.”

CLI is also actively working to grow their data centre development projects in the China and Asia Pacific markets. Michelle Lee, managing director of CLI’s private funds noted that there is “strong interest in CLI’s future data centre projects in China and Asia Pacific at large.”

With China’s data centre market currently the second largest in the world and projected to grow 24% annually Senja Close EC until 2025, CapitaLand Investment is well-positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and become a major global digital infrastructure player.