Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners announced the closing of fundraising for its internet data center (IDC) platform, which targets to invest in a portfolio of projects in partnership with IDC developers and operators in China, bringing the total equity raised approximately US$1.3 billion.
“Gaw Capital Partners is extremely pleased to be teaming up with industry leaders and outstanding operating teams to invest in IDC projects. We have seen good results thanks to our operating partners’ strong execution capabilities. Amid the backdrop of pandemic and the rapid adoption of 5G in China, there is a strong demand for data processing services due to the increasing use of data because of the social distancing measures. With most social and economic activities migrating online, data centers in promising locations along the densely populated region of China are emerging as valuable assets that produce stable rental income,” said Humbert Pang, Managing Principal and Head of China.
“We are delighted to complete the final close of fundraising for our IDC platform, following the highly successful fundraising round for our Gateway Real Estate Fund VI. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is the largest investor in the IDC Platform, with additional commitments made by other global institutional investors. These commitments we have received are a strong vote of confidence in Gaw Capital’s approach to IDC assets, which is a focused sector for us, and we have further plans to grow into other Asia regional markets,” commented Christina Gaw, Managing Principal and Head of Capital Markets.
From 2010 to 2018, the total IDC market size in China grew more than 10 times from RMB 10.2 billion to RMB 127.7 billion, said the company in a statement. ”The compound annual growth rate of the market was 37%, doubling that of the global average during the same period. The rapid growth of the IDC sector will be sustained in the coming years, spurred by China’s push towards greater digital transformation and technology adoption across sectors.”
 platform,bringing the total equity raised approximately US$1.3bn.){kind=link}