Digital Realty Hires Serene Nah as Managing Director and Head of APAC

Former Kerry Properties finance chief Serene Nah has joined Digital Realty as managing director and head of Asia Pacific, the US data centre giant announced Thursday.

The news comes four months after Nah’s resignation from Kerry, where she served as chief financial officer and as an executive director on the board of the Hong Kong-based builder controlled by the family of Shangri-La Hotels tycoon Robert Kuok.

Before joining Kerry in 2019, Nah spent eight years at tech-focused private equity firm Silverlake Partners, where she rose to head of portfolio management for Asia.

“I am delighted to have Serene on board,” Digital Realty’s president and CEO, Andrew Power, said in a release. “Her breadth of financial advisory experience and knowledge across real estate and technology industries will greatly augment our capabilities in the region as we continue to grow and provide the global platform that is the bedrock of our customers’ digital initiatives globally.”

Brief Board Tenure

Nah was said to leave Kerry for personal reasons after first joining the firm as chief strategy officer in October 2019 and being promoted to CFO in August 2020. Her resignation came just eight months after her appointment to the board of directors at the HKEX-listed developer. Hutchison Telecom veteran Suzanne Cheng took over as Kerry’s finance chief in November.

Certified as a life coach and having worked as a yoga trainer in her spare time, Nah is a graduate of Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Having been named as an independent, non-executive director of industrial titan ESR in April, Nah also spent a decade with General Electric, including serving as CFO of GE Capital Greater China from 2008 to 2011.

In Digital Realty’s announcement, Nah said she looked forward to working with partners, customers and colleagues to drive growth and broaden the group’s offerings in Asia Pacific.

“It is an exciting time to join Digital Realty’s team in what is set to become the largest data centre region in the world,” she said. “I join a global industry leader that provides the world’s largest trusted digital space for businesses to collaborate.”

Management Transition

NYSE-listed Digital Realty operates as a REIT and comprises more than 300 facilities in 27 countries. The company had over $39 billion in assets, including $29 billion in real estate, as of September 2022, according to unaudited results.

Chief executive Power assumed the top job at the Texas-based trust last month to replace A William Stein, who left the company at the end of December. Power was named president in 2021 and had served as chief financial officer since 2015.

The company on Tuesday announced the promotion of Matt Mercier to succeed Power as CFO. Mercier joined Digital Realty in 2006, most recently serving as senior vice president for global finance and accounting.