CPPIB Announces $160M Seoul Area Data Centre JV

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has revealed its latest splash in Asia’s data centre market, announcing a KRW 200 billion ($160 million) joint venture to develop the largest carrier-neutral hyperscale data centre in South Korea.

The Jukjeon Data Centre will rise in the eastern Seoul metropolitan area near the Pangyo Techno Valley digital hub, CPPIB said Monday in a release. The facility’s gross floor area of 99,070 square metres (1,066,381 square feet) will consist of four above-ground floors and four below-ground floors providing commercial space for cloud, internet and IT companies.

CPPIB and a fund managed by Seoul-based Pacific Asset Management will commit KRW 137 billion in equity for project development, with the $437 billion Toronto-based giant contributing KRW 126 billion. Other backers of the venture include Korean firms Dreammark 1, GS Retail and Shinhan Investment Corporation.

“Demand for data centres in Asia Pacific continues to grow and is boosted further by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Gilles Chow, managing director and head of real estate for North Asia at CPPIB. “Companies in South Korea are in need of digital infrastructure as the country is emerging as a technology and innovation hub in the region.”

Local Operator Signs On

Upon the project’s completion in June 2024, Jukjeon Data Centre will be operated by Korean data centre operator LG CNS, said CPPIB, which has been expanding its real estate portfolio in Asia Pacific.

In its most recent data centre play, CPPIB last July announced a $319 million commitment to financial group Mitsui’s Japanese Data Centre Development Fund.

The CPPIB-Mitsui vehicle teamed up in a 50:50 joint venture with financial services firm Fidelity to develop and operate server facilities in Japan through the US conglomerate’s Colt Data Centre Services division.

UK-based Colt broke ground on the fund’s first project, a 45-megawatt data centre east of Osaka in the Kansai region, last August. The facility will provide 42,000 square metres of floor space when it opens for business in early 2023.

More Regional Moves

The Canadian pension fund manager’s other regional investments include a JPY 110 billion commitment to Singapore warehouse specialist GLP’s Japan Development Partners IV vehicle, which announced a JPY 311 billion ($2.72 billion) closing last October.

In December, CPPIB revealed a JPY 19 billion ($170 million) capital commitment to a joint venture with property giant Mitsubishi Estate to invest in commercial and residential assets in Asia’s second-largest economy.

In March of this year, CPPIB teamed up for a second Indian office joint venture with RMZ Corp with an INR 26.5 billion ($350 million) investment. The deal came less than a year after committing $210 million to its first office venture with the Bangalore-based developer.