Gaw Capital to Expand Data Center Portfolio in Japan

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong private equity real estate firm Gaw Capital Partners has acquired a new Japanese property, expanding the company’s data center portfolio amid an artificial intelligence boom. 

Gaw Capital has acquired an 11,233 square meter property in Fuchu Intelligent Park, a data center cluster, expanding its existing stake in the area, according to a company statement Monday. The property, within 30 kilometers of central Tokyo, will double the scale of data centers in the vicinity making it the largest such facility in Fuchu City in terms of information technology capacity, the statement added. 

This latest acquisition underscores how private equity firms are doubling down on data centers in Asia amid an AI boom. Demand in Southeast Asia and North Asia is expected to expand about 25% a year through 2028, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. That compares with 14% a year in the US. Gaw Capital has raised equity of $22.3 billion since 2005 and has assets of $33.7 billion under management as of the third quarter of 2023, according to the company’s website.

“Technological advancements in Japan, especially the ever-growing development of artificial intelligence, which requires exponential computing power, will continue to drive demand for data centers,” said Isabella Lo, managing director, principal of investments and head of Japan at Gaw Capital Partners, in the statement.

Related:Investors Plow Into Asia Data Centers on AI, Cloud Boom

Other investors are also piling into data centers. Alternative asset managers Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital and CDH Investments are in advanced talks to invest in GDS Holdings Ltd.’s data center business outside China. Adani Enterprises plans to invest 500 billion rupees ($6 billion) to build data center infrastructure in western India.