ESR, an Asia‑Pacific focused real asset owner and manager, acting as sub‑investment advisor to the $1 billion China‑ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund II (CAF II), announced Monday a strategic investment by CAF II into Racks Central, a Singapore‑headquartered data center platform with a growing regional footprint.

The investment will support Racks Central’s overseas expansion, starting with Johor, Malaysia, building on its established colocation operations in Singapore, Racks Central said in a statement.

The investment will also strengthen the firm’s ability to deliver large‑scale, artificial intelligence (AI)‑ready and energy‑efficient data center capacity to hyperscalers, cloud service providers, and enterprises across Southeast Asia.

“The rapid acceleration of AI adoption and digital transformation is fundamentally reshaping data center requirements across Asia-Pacific,

“As sub‑advisor to CAF II, and with ESR’s data center development expertise across a pipeline of over 3 GW, we are pleased to support Racks Central’s transformation to a scalable, regional data center platform for hyperscale and enterprise customers,” said Jeffrey Shen, Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, ESR.

Bobby Wee, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Racks Central, said, their capital commitment and infrastructure expertise will support their ambition to develop a seamless, AI‑ready data center corridor across Southeast Asia, enabling their customers to scale efficiently as regional digital demand continues to grow.

It is noted that Southeast Asia is experiencing sustained growth in AI adoption, cloud computing, and digital innovation, driving the next wave of demand for scalable, high‑performance data center infrastructure.

Founded in 2014, Racks Central currently operates a 12 MW colocation data center in Singapore, serving enterprise and cloud customers.

As part of its strategy to develop an AI‑ready data center corridor across key data center hubs in Southeast Asia, the company is building a campus in Johor, Malaysia, comprising four large-scale developments with a combined capacity of up to 510 MW.

Sustainability considerations are embedded across Racks Central’s developments, including energy‑efficient design, advanced cooling solutions, and responsible resource management, said the statement.

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