Epoch Digital, an Asian data centre platform backed by Actis, is in talks with existing fund investors to co-invest equity capital for a 200 MW portfolio that is being developed, two sources familiar told Infralogic.

The investments could be made at the project or fund level, said one of the sources. Actis launched Epoch Digital in June through its Asia real estate strategy, he said, without elaborating on the amount of capital spent at the time.

The platform aims to raise around USD 50m in equity for its first project, a 23 MW facility located in Taipei, Taiwan, said one of the sources. Construction commenced in April last year, with commercial operations slated for late 2025, the other source said.

Besides Taiwan, Epoch Digital has a 120 MW project in Malaysia’s Johor Bahru and a 52 MW facility in Seoul, South Korea. Building work for the Johor data centre will start in late 2024; the Seoul project will begin construction at the end of this year soonest, after finalizing land acquisition rights in the final quarter of this year.

Around 40% of the Taipei facility has been pre-contracted with Big Tech customers, the sources said. The platform is close to signing contracts for roughly 50% of the total portfolio with hyperscale clients.

Epoch Digital has also begun tapping local banks to project finance the portfolio’s development, the sources said. The portfolio has a total construction cost of over USD 2bn, 60%-65% of which it aims to finance through debt, one of the sources said.

The operator is targeting financial close for its Taipei and Johor projects in the next two to three months, said one of the sources. Financial close for the Seoul facility is anticipated for the end of this year, at the soonest.

It is finalizing terms with a lending syndicate of two to three local financial institutions for the Taipei project, while a club of five to six banks are processing approvals for the Johor facility, one of the sources said. In South Korea, it expects the project to get financed by three to four banks.

Epoch Digital’s management is working on the financing alongside Actis’ in-house team, the sources said.

Prior to launching Epoch Digital, Actis invested in two 26 MW data centres in South Korea, both of which are expected to become operational by the second quarter of 2025. Actis is also invested in Chayora, a Chinese data centre developer with a combined IT load capacity of 200 MW across an operational facility in Beijing and a new campus under development in Shanghai.

Actis declined to comment.

[Editor’s note: The article has been updated post-publication to note that Actis declined to comment.]