Beijing investment bank backs Keppel Data Centre investment fund
The investment fund behind Keppel Data Centers has acquired US$1.1 billion from investors including a Beijing-based investment bank, which will support the growth of Keppel's data centers in Singapore and worldwide.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) contributed US$100 million to the Keppel Data Center Fund (KDC Fund II), a fund that closed with a US$1.1 billion raise.
KDC Fund II is managed by Alpha Investment Partners, a private fund manager under Keppel Capital Holdings.
Keppel Capital Holdings says the fund is designed to target strategic investments in the data center market in Asia Pacific and in Europe. The Group says the fund has attracted many different investment firms, including financial institutions, insurance funds, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds.
AIIB's director general, banking department (region 1), Dongik Lee, says the world is experiencing a 'digitalization mega trend' that is reshaping business operations and global markets.
"This trend has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, further highlighting the importance of data centers which are essential components of the digital ecosystem and attractive investment targets, as identified by AIIB's Digital Infrastructure Sector Strategy.
"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 centers that mostly serve Emerging Asia.
The KDC Fund II will also 'tap' Keppel Data Centers in order to develop, operate, and maintain data centers, as well as investment opportunities in greenfield and brownfield data center assets.
Alpha Investment Partners CEO Alvin Mah says data centers underpin the digital economy. This economy is essential to modern life as we know it.
"We are pleased to welcome Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an investor and look forward to strengthening our partnership through the Keppel Data Center Fund II, which is seizing opportunities arising from the burgeoning demand for quality data centers," notes Mah.
"Working together with Keppel Data Centers, we are able to tap on the Keppel Group's know-how in data centers operations excellence, sustainable technology and energy-efficiency to develop better and greener data centers, which is an increasing imperative for data center 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.
Keppel Capital reported S$37 billion in assets under management at the end of 2020. The company invests in data center assets, infrastructure and real estate in 'key global markets'.
