Arch Capital Management and Manulife Investment Management have strengthened their Asia-Pacific strategic partnership with the launch of a regional digital infrastructure platform.
The Digital Halo (DH) platform will invest in, develop and operate digital infrastructure assets, including data centres, fibres and towers, and renewable power.
The first DH data centre will be launched in Manila, where, together with its affiliated investment vehicles, DH will manage and own a proposed 70MW data centre campus on a 3.75-hectare freehold land parcel in Cainta.
The launch of Digital Halo follows the two firms’ partnership created in February last year to invest beyond real estate to digital infrastructure.
Myron Zhu, head of private markets, Asia, with Manulife Investment Management, said Digital Halo further extended Manulife’s private markets buildout in Asia, leveraging on its strong strategic partnership with Arch Capital.
“The Digital Halo launch underscores our strong commitment to Asia, and provides the foothold for our investments into the digital infrastructure sector in Asia (ex-China), taking our trademark approach in combining local investment expertise with global institutionalised standards and enhancing our offerings to investors,” Zhu said.
Richard Yue, founder and chief executive officer of Arch Capital – which has more than $5.6bn (€5.2bn) under management – said: “The digital infrastructure sector in Asia is among the fastest-growing markets in the world, with demand outpacing supply. We are delighted to welcome the Digital Halo team, who bring exceptional and unparalleled expertise and experience in telecommunications and data centres to the platform.”
Co-founder and executive chairman of Digital Halo, Charles Cosgrove, said: “After living and working in Singapore for over 30 years, I find myself looking back on my time in Southeast Asia and now see so much opportunity for our region, especially in our chosen areas of digital infrastructure.”
Digital Halo’s chief investment officer and chief operating officer, Kai Goh, who co-founded the company with Cosgrove, said he and his team looked forward to making Digital Halo a “Singapore success story”.
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