GLP Sells Stake in China Data Centre Business to Zhejiang Govt Entities for $350M

Industrial developer and fund manager GLP announced Tuesday that it has secured RMB 2.5 billion ($349.5 million) in investment from Zhejiang government entities to expand its China data center business.

The investors include Quzhou Industrial Holding Group, a state-owned investment and business park development enterprise based in the western Zhejiang city of Quzhou, which will take a strategic stake in GLP’s China data center business, GLP said in a release.

“As AI adoption accelerates and enterprises require advanced computing capabilities, data center capacity has become critical to supporting economic growth and innovation,” GLP said. “The RMB 2.5 billion investment will enable GLP to scale data center operations across the country.”

The data centre tie-up marks the first milestone in a comprehensive partnership GLP is developing together with the Zhejiang government, following a strategic alignment reached in April, the company said.

Tech Hub

In addition to being the home of e-commerce giant Alibaba, Zhejiang is home to tech companies including AI powerhouse DeepSeek, humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics, and Game Science, the studio behind the hit game Black Myth: Wukong.

In May, the Zhejiang government released sweeping measures to promote the development of AI and foster globally competitive companies in the sector with the province aiming to generate RMB 1.2 trillion in revenue from the sector by 2030.

“These developments in robotics, LLMs, and multimodal applications create significant opportunities for GLP’s new-economy focused investment and business building strategy,” GLP said.

After establishing its digital infrastructure business in 2018, GLP now owns and operates 20 data centers totaling 1.4 gigawatts of secured IT capacity which provide infrastructure for cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital services.

AI Boost

GLP swung to an annual loss of $1.8 billion in 2024 due primarily to markdowns on its mainland China assets and other non-cash items, reversing a $233 million profit recorded in 2023.

During last year the company’s data centre business defied the broader challenges with revenue growing 43 percent year-on-year to $193 million. That yielded $51 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the business unit. 

In March, GLP completed the sale of its fund management business outside of China to US private equity firm Ares Management in a more than $5 billion deal. Following the transaction, GLP managed $80 billion in assets with $6 billion in unimplemented capital in its funds. 

Following the Ares deal, GLP continues to operate independently under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Ming Z Mei, with a focus on investing in Greater China.

In April, GLP announced the closing of its first China data centre fund with RMB 2.6 billion ($360 million) in assets under management.