Principal Real Estate has raised over half a billion dollars for its first dedicated US data centre fund after receiving the capital commitments from a total of 15 limited partners.

The manager said the Principal Digital Real Estate Fund, which reached the final investor close on 30 April was oversubscribed, raising $533m (€437m) from investors globally.

The diverse group of investors included public and corporate pension funds, insurance companies, wealth managers, endowments, and foundations from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

The fund will focus on value-add acquisitions, the redevelopment of existing data centres that can be acquired at or below replacement cost, and the development of high-quality, state-of-the-art data centre facilities on a ready-to-fit or turnkey basis, the manager said.

Principal Real Estate began investing in data centres in 2007 and has since committed over $1bn in data centre acquisitions and developments while also owning more than $1.1bn in data centre real estate investment trusts.

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