Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners and a group of investors have committed $1bn (€845.4bn) to form an Asia Pacific data centre investment platform.

Stonepeak said it has joined forces with former Equinix, Facebook, Tata Communications and Macquarie executives to form Digital Edge, with a focus on acquiring and developing data centres and related digital infrastructure assets.

Digital Edge is led by CEO Samuel Lee, who previously served as president of Equinix’s Asia Pacific business from 2005 to 2019. The Singapore-headquartered firm’s senior team also includes former Equinix executives Kei Furuta, Andrew Rigoli and Jonathan Chou as well as Jay Park, formerly with Facebook, John Freeman, formerly with Tata Communications, and Jonathan Walbridge, formerly with Macquarie.

Digital Edge has closed its initial transactions and they involve a partnership with Keihanshin Building and Kanden Energy Solution for the development of a 12MW facility in central Osaka and a partnership with Itochu Techno-Solutions in Tokyo, the company said.

Brian McMullen, senior MD at Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, said: “The Asia Pacific digital infrastructure market is among the fastest-growing in the world, with demand continuing to outpace supply.

”We are delighted to partner with Lee and his team, who bring unparalleled experience and an exceptional track record of development, and are investing in Digital Edge to help us achieve our shared vision for the region.”

Lee said: “We are very excited to partner with Stonepeak and to have completed the initial capacity acquisitions to fulfil our vision of bridging the digital divide in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The transactions in Tokyo and Osaka give the platform a dual footprint offering to customers in Japan’s two primary data centre markets.”

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