Keppel Capital Holdings has secured Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), as an investor for the Keppel Data Centre Fund II (KDC Fund II) on Jan 21.
In addition, the bank achieved a closing with a total of US$1.1 billion ($1.48 billion) of total commitments, including co-investment capital for the fund.
AIIB is a 104-member multilateral development bank that seeks to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia.
It has invested some US$100 million into the KDC Fund II through a parallel fund structure and US$50 million through co-investments, which mark the final close of KDC Fund II, which was launched in December 2020.
The KDC Fund II will focus on making strategic investments in the fast-growing data centre sector in Asia Pacific and Europe.
The fund, which is managed by Alpha Investment Partners Limited (Alpha), a private fund manager under Keppel Capital, will tap on Keppel Data Centres Holdings’ (Keppel Data Centres) expertise in developing, operating and maintaining quality data centres to capture investment opportunities in greenfield and brownfield data centre assets.
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“Data centres form the foundation of the digital economy which underpins almost every aspect of modern life today. We are pleased to welcome Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an investor and look forward to strengthening our partnership through the Keppel Data Centre Fund II, which is seizing opportunities arising from the burgeoning demand for quality data centres,” says Alvin Mah, CEO of Alpha.
“Working together with Keppel Data Centres, we are able to tap on the Keppel Group’s know-how in data centre operations excellence, sustainable technology and energy-efficiency to develop better and greener data centres, which is an increasing imperative for data centre operators. This will allow us to set our portfolio above the others to offer a wider range of services to our clients and more compelling returns to our investors,” he adds.
AIIB Director General, Banking Department (Region 1), Dongik Lee says he sees the mega trend of digitalisation as “re-shaping global markets and business operations”.
“This trend has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, further highlighting the importance of data centres which are essential components of the digital ecosystem and attractive investment targets, as identified by AIIB’s Digital Infrastructure Sector Strategy,” he continues. “Our partnership with KDC Fund II and Alpha will foster the development and enhancement of hard digital infrastructure to bridge the digital divide by mainly investing in colocation data centres that mostly serve Emerging Asia.”
Shares in Keppel Corporation closed 1 cent lower or 0.19% down at $5.31 on Jan 20.
Photo: Keppel
