Login
ESR Group raises $1bn to accelerate data scope
International law firm Baker McKenzie has acted for ESR Group on the raising of US$1 billion to support it's inaugural data centre fund.
Emma Musgrave
Firm: Baker McKenzie (ESR Group Limited).
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Deal: ESR Group has created the ESR Data Centre Fund I, successfully raising US$1 billion at its first closing.
Value: US$1 billion.
Area: Finance.
Key players: The Baker McKenzie team was led by principal Derek Kwan and Jens Carle, with support provided by associates Jonathan Phay and Gabriel Fang.
Other team members involved included principal Geraldine Ong, partner Rico Chan and special counsel Mandy Lan.
Deal significance: The ESR Data Centre Fund I is described as a private equity real estate fund. According to a statement provided by Baker McKenzie, it will invest in data centre projects across the Asia-Pacific region.
“The Fund, which successfully raised US$1 billion at its first closing, has attracted investments from among the world's largest institutional investors,” the statement from Baker McKenzie said.
“We also acted as transaction counsel on ESR's investment in joint venture with US-based hyperscaler STACK Infrastructure (STACK) to build a 48-megawatt data centre in Incheon, Seoul.”
Commenting on the deal further, Baker McKenzie principal Derek Kwan said:
“New economy assets such as data centres are increasingly becoming a critical asset class for managers and investors, as evidenced by ESR's record fundraise. The fact that the client also appointed us to advise ESR's investment in its first joint venture with STACK is a vote of confidence on the team's competencies. It has been a privilege to act as ESR's counsel on these strategic transactions.”
