[SINGAPORE] Asian data centre operator Princeton Digital Group (PDG), backed by Warburg Pincus, has raised US$500 million in an equity funding round led by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, underscoring the sector’s appeal as demand from global cloud providers fuels its growth.

PDG, formed by the company’s chairman Rangu Salgame and chief operating officer Varoon Raghavan with Warburg Pincus in 2017, will deepen its presence in its operating markets in Singapore, India, China, Japan and Indonesia, the Singapore-based firm said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 22).

Globally, data centres are riding a wave of unprecedented demand from cloud majors such as Amazon, streaming platforms and other Internet services firms, which is drawing financial investors. Asia has become a hotspot for data centres.

Mubadala Investment Company is investing US$350 million in PDG while existing backers Warburg Pincus and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board also participated in the fundraising that topped US$500 million, PDG said.

“Asia has become strategic for big cloud and commerce companies and as their investment in the region is becoming big, they are looking for multi-country data centre operators,” Rangu told Reuters, adding that PDG planned to open data centres in South Korea and the Philippines over the next 2 years.

The funding will enable PDG to potentially more than double its secured capacity of 600 megawatts over 5 years.

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“The market has been growing at over 20 per cent year on year and we anticipate that to continue in the coming years,” said Rangu, referring to demand for data centre capacity.

PDG’s competitors include global players such as US-listed Equinix and Digital Realty and China’s GDS Holdings.

Rangu said over the next 12 to 24 months, PDG will be “well-positioned” to explore a public listing but it had no specific targets. REUTERS