Chindata’s Bridge Data Centres Breaks Ground on 100MW Malaysian Campus 

Singapore-based Bridge Data Centres has started work on a new hyperscale data centre campus in the southern Malaysia state of Johor, that can deliver an estimated 100 megawatts of power capacity in the state just across the border from Singapore, according to a release this week.

Bridge Data Centres, a subsidiary of Bain Capital-backed data centre operator Chindata, said the hyperscale campus comprises three buildings sitting on a 40-acre (16.2 hectare) piece of land inside Kidex Sedenak business park in Sedenak, north of Johor.

“We are proud to be able to continue our expansion journey in Malaysia,” said Bridge Data Centres president Lim Dz Shing. “This hyperscale campus with three buildings, marks our commitment to scalable and reliable solutions and comes with massive hiring and investment opportunities within the industry.

The new campus will reportedly be one of the biggest of its kind in Malaysia and will become Bridge’s first facility in Johor, a state bordering Singapore in the southern part of peninsular Malaysia, where the project could benefit from the nearby city-state having banned construction of new data centres since 2019 due to energy consumption concerns.

Tripling Capacity

Named MY06, the upcoming campus will add to the three facilities Bridge operates in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and its single data centre in Navi Mumbai, India, nearly tripling the operator’s overall capacity to 156 megawatts once completed. The new hyperscale site also represents a more than 27 percent increase on the overall capacity of Chindata Group as of the end of September, including its mainland China-based assets.

With construction work already underway, the first phase of the Johor campus is expected to open towards the end of 2022 and will be followed by the opening of the second portion shortly thereafter.

The new project is a built-to-suit facility where it will deliver at least 80 megawatts of power to an unnamed anchor client starting next year, Chindata Group revealed in announcing its third quarter results this week. Aside from the new hyperscale in Malaysia, the group is also in final talks on a Bangkok acquisition where it will host a 5-megawatt data centre that caters to clients across Southeast Asia.

Chindata Expands Footprint

First acquired by Bain in May 2019, Bridge forms one of two branches in Nasdaq-listed Chindata Group, with the firm’s Beijing-based Chindata division focusing on the mainland China market.

The group was formed when Bain Capital Bridge and Chindata in mid-2019, which was followed by Chindata Group’s $540 million IPO in October last year.

In an interview with Capacity media, Chindata Group founder and chief executive officer Jing “Alex” Ju confirmed the company’s plan to expand its network in Malaysia, India and Singapore, while entering new markets like Thailand and Indonesia.

“Our overall supply chain management and delivery capabilities have also given us a competitive edge when expanding our business overseas,” Ju said in the interview. “We look forward to collaborating with more partners to continue our growth and serve the rising demand for digital infrastructure, driven by the global push for digital and economic inclusion through a more open model.”

The group said continued expansion and diversifying their pool of clients helped them grow their net income to RMB 78.4 million ($12.3 million) in the third quarter of this year, compared to the RMB 196.8 million net loss it suffered over the same period in 2020.

Chindata’s EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, for the third quarter also jumped by 61.6 percent from a year ago to RMB 368.4 million.