Actis Launches Asia Data Centre Platform With 200MW Project Portfolio

London-based fund manager Actis on Thursday announced the launch of Epoch Digital, an Asia data centre platform with roughly 200 megawatts of IT capacity under development across three projects in Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea.

The first project is a 23MW data centre in central Taipei and the second will support 120MW in capacity in Johor Bahru to meet demand from neighbouring Singapore, Actis said Thursday in a release. The third development is a data centre in Greater Seoul.

Epoch Digital will be led by chief executive Hak Kiat Chng and chief operating officer Pei Ping Lim, who worked together previously at Singapore’s Keppel Data Centres and most recently at DCI Data Centers, an arm of Brookfield Infrastructure.

“As hyperscalers become strained for capacity in mature data markets, they are increasingly turning to Asian growth markets for their needs, where they require cost-effective, decarbonised and scalable data centres,” said Thomas Liu, head of Greater China and Asia data centres on the real estate team at Actis. “This is precisely what Epoch Digital is designed to provide and we’re excited to work with Hak Kiat and Pei Ping to deliver this for its customers.”

Global Reach

Actis has committed more than $1.5 billion to the digital infrastructure sector, having built or operated data centres with a designed IT capacity of more than 300MW worldwide, including three facilities in Asia before the launch of Epoch Digital.

The UK firm invested $180 million in China-focused data centre specialist Chayora Holdings in 2019 and acquired an 11-asset portfolio with 23MW of capacity across six countries in Latin America and the US from Spanish operator Nabiax last year.

The Epoch Digital platform will be able to draw on the wider Actis network, said Dalmar Sheikh, global head of data centre operations at Actis.

“The demand for data is rising exponentially and this is creating a large supply need that must be met both on the data centre and energy front,” Sheikh said. “We’re focused on designing green data centres with a lower PUE than the market average to bring a powerful and attractive offering to market.”

Eyes on Infrastructure

Actis is in the process of being bought by US private equity firm General Atlantic for an undisclosed price, creating a global investment platform with $96 billion in combined assets under management. Actis, which has raised $25 billion in capital since its 2004 inception, will contribute $12.5 billion in AUM as it becomes the sustainable infrastructure arm of General Atlantic.

The deal was announced in January, less than a week after US giant BlackRock made public its plan to acquire General Infrastructure Partners, a $100 billion asset manager with an investment thesis centred on decarbonisation. Similarly, General Atlantic chairman and CEO Bill Ford tied the Actis buy to the global energy transition and sustainability goals.

“Addressing the global paradigm shift toward sustainability requires an economic transformation and a capital investment on a massive scale,” said Ford, who also sits on BlackRock’s board. “With the addition of Actis, we are taking a significant step forward to add a sustainable investment capability which positions General Atlantic to capture this opportunity set for our investors.”