Its partner in the project is Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC), the infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, a holding company with interests in consumer goods, utilities, financials and industrials.
Cosette Canilao (pictured), president and CEO of AIC, said: “The Philippines is underserved and seeing high domestic data demand growth relative to south-east Asia. Our market size, favourable demographics and proliferation of subsea cables make the Philippines an ideal destination for data centre investments.”
The partnership focuses on building a network of hyperscale data centres across the Philippines, starting with two in the Manila area, adjacent to the local internet exchange. There will be a secondary hyperscale campus, also in the greater Manila area.
The partnership said it will look to tap AIC’s landbank of 1,400 hectares of prime industrial real estate and AboitizPower’s diversified renewable energy capacity, which the company aims to triple by 2030.
Canilao said the joint venture has “access to prime real estate” in city centres, such as Manila, “as well as emerging economic hubs like Batangas”. The city of Batangas, on the coast, is 95km south of Manila.
“There is great excitement about the partnership and the incredible market opportunity the partnership enables,” said Canilao.
EdgeConneX, owned by Swedish investor EQT, has not said how big its planned data centres will be. Randy Brouckman, CEO of EdgeConneX, said: “We look forward to investing in the digital economy of the Philippines and meeting our customers’ needs throughout the region. They complement our capabilities required to successfully capture this market opportunity.”
Jan Vesely, partner at EQT, said: “The data usage in Asia is expected to grow exponentially over the coming years, meaning that the underlying digital infrastructure must scale-up to meet increasing demand, thus creating compelling opportunities for investments.”
He said that EdgeConneX is looking for other investments in the region: “Whether through M&A or joint ventures such as this one with Aboitiz, we look to continue steadily building out the EdgeConneX global platform in Asia in collaboration with leading local partners.”
