EXPANDING THEIR XSCALE DATA CENTER PORTFOLIO

Equinix has just announced the signing of an agreement with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, to develop and operate two xScale data centers in Seoul, South Korea.

This agreement which includes the formation of a US$525 million joint venture (JV) in the form of a limited liability partnership will expand the xScaleTM data center portfolio which Equinix and GIC have been operating through multiple joint ventures.

The two Korean facilities under the latest joint venture, codenamed SL2x and SL3x, are expected to provide over 45MW of power capacity with 100% renewable energy supply. These new xScale facilities are also planned to be LEED certified (or attain the equivalent regional certification).

In Asia, Equinix and GIC already have the xScale footprint in Japan which was established through a $1 billion joint venture in 2020. The Japan JV include the development of three data centers, two in Tokyo and one in Osaka which will offer a total of 138MW power capacity when fully built out.

The new South Korea joint venture, which is the latest in Asia, will bring the global xScale data center portfolio to more than US$8 billion across 36 facilities, and an expected total power capacity of over 720MW when completed and fully developed.

“More and more organizations are embracing a digital-first strategy to scale their operations, enhance the experiences of their customers, and unlock the value of technologies like 5G, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML),” said Charles Meyers, President and CEO of Equinix.

“Korea and the broader Asia-Pacific market are both enablers and beneficiaries as organizations prioritize digital transformation. To address demand for cloud and digital infrastructure, we have continued to invest in the region through the expansion of International Business ExchangeTM (IBX®) capacity and locations, as well as the expansion of our hyperscale program, xScale, in Australia, and now Korea.”

Under the terms of this Korean joint venture, GIC will own an 80% equity interest in the JV, and Equinix will own the remaining 20% equity interest. The joint venture is expected to close in Q1 2022, pending regulatory approval and other closing conditions.