BENGALURU – Singapore’s Keppel said on Nov 5 it had agreed to buy an artificial intelligence-ready data centre facility being developed by Japan’s biggest property group Mitsui Fudosan in Tokyo.
The deal comes less than two weeks after the asset manager said it plans to more than double its data centre funds under management from $9 billion currently to $19 billion in the near term to tap into the AI frenzy.
Mitsui Fudosan will develop the core and shell of the data centre, while Keppel’s private fund will undertake the fit-out works, the Singapore company said.
Keppel said it would be the facility manager when the data centre is ready in 2027, adding to its recurring income.
Financial terms and the project’s location were not disclosed, but Japanese media have reported that Mitsui Fudosan is building a data centre on the former site of Polytechnic University’s Sagamihara campus.
The AI-ready facility, dubbed Keppel DC Tokyo 2, is designed to provide more than 300,000 sq ft of gross floor area, according to real estate investment platform Mingtiandi.
The project marks Keppel’s first data centre development in Japan and its second data centre asset in the country, following the recent acquisition of an active Tokyo facility in partnership with Keppel DC Reit.
“We look forward to working even closer with Mitsui Fudosan … to further develop a quality pipeline of assets for our upcoming Keppel Data Centre Fund III,” said Ms Christina Tan, Keppel’s chief investment officer and chief executive of fund management. REUTERS