Actis, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure, has announced the launch of Epoch Digital, a new integrated data centre platform in Asia with a current portfolio under development offering around 200MW of IT capacity across three identified projects and a strong pipeline for future growth.
Epoch Digital targets to develop, own and operate a scalable and geographically diversified portfolio of data centres across strategic and highly selective markets in Asia where hyperscale customers – big tech and cloud service providers – are growing with imminent demand. Actis and the leadership team of Epoch Digital enjoy a competitive advantage, with a long track record and deep experience of investing in and developing infrastructure and real estate projects across many Asian growth markets.
The platform will play a pivotal role in providing trusted and sustainable data centre services to meet rapidly growing data needs.
The first project is a 23MW IT capacity data centre in the heart of Taipei, Taiwan; the second will support 120MW in capacity in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and is aimed at meeting data centre demand from neighbouring country, Singapore, where a moratorium on data centre development was enacted in 2019; and the third development is for a data centre in Greater Seoul, South Korea.
Epoch Digital will be managed by a seasoned team led by Chief Executive Officer Hak Kiat Chng and Chief Operating Officer Pei Ping Lim, who have worked together for over a decade and led the full lifecycle development of more than 250MW of IT capacity in the target markets.
The platform builds on Actis’ strong track record in the data centre space, having built or operated data centres globally with a total design IT capacity of over 300MW, including three in Asia prior to the launch of Epoch Digital. As part of this Asian data centre experience, Actis has been at the forefront of developing commercial hyperscale data centres in Seoul and is on track to deliver two assets to hyperscale customers.
Through Epoch Digital and its other data centre platforms, Actis is leveraging its deep expertise and capabilities in digital infrastructure, real estate, renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure to provide energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions to hyperscale customers that need to decarbonise.
“The launch of Epoch Digital represents an exciting moment for Actis’ data centre strategy. Large, global tech hyperscalers are by far the largest drivers of data centre demand so it’s key we tailor our offering to those target tenants,” said Thomas Liu, Partner, Head of Greater China and Asia Data Centres, Real Estate at Actis. “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. 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.”
Dalmar Sheikh, Director, Global Head of Data Centre Operations at Actis, said: “Epoch Digital has all the attributes for success, especially when you consider the platform will be able to draw on the wider Actis network. 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.
“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. The future looks bright for Epoch Digital,” added Sheikh.
“The emergence of Generative AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace, driving the need for larger data centre capacities,” said Hak Kiat Chng, Chief Executive Officer, Epoch Digital. “This evolution highlights the critical synergy between data centre providers and IT tech giants, as they collaborate to support and enhance the infrastructure necessary for this technological revolution. Epoch Digital is well positioned within Asia Pacific in both mature and emerging markets to foster increased collaboration with our partners for this explosive growth potential.”
Actis’ investment in Epoch Digital further strengthens the firm’s position in the digital infrastructure market, with Actis having committed more than US$1.5 billion in the sector.
