CAF II Invests in Racks Central to Advance Southeast Asia Data Centre Corridor
/
Press Release
SINGAPORE, 15 June 2026 – ESR, an Asia‑Pacific focused real asset owner and manager, acting as sub‑investment advisor to the US$1 billion China‑ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund II (“CAF II”), today announced a strategic investment by CAF II into Racks Central, a Singapore‑headquartered data centre platform with a growing regional footprint.
The investment will support Racks Central’s overseas expansion, starting with Johor, Malaysia, building on its established colocation operations in Singapore. The investment will strengthen Racks Central’s ability to deliver large‑scale, AI‑ready and energy‑efficient data centre capacity to hyperscalers, cloud service providers, and enterprises across Southeast Asia.
Jeffrey Shen, Co-founder and Co-CEO, ESR, said, “The rapid acceleration of AI adoption and digital transformation is fundamentally reshaping data centre requirements across Asia-Pacific. As sub‑advisor to CAF II, and with ESR’s data centre development expertise across a pipeline of over 3 GW, we are pleased to support Racks Central’s transformation to a scalable, regional data centre platform for hyperscale and enterprise customers.”
Bobby Wee, Founder and CEO, Racks Central, said, “We are pleased to welcome ESR and CAF II as strategic partners. Their capital commitment and infrastructure expertise will support our ambition to develop a seamless, AI‑ready data centre corridor across Southeast Asia, enabling our customers to scale efficiently as regional digital demand continues to grow.”
Southeast Asia is experiencing sustained growth in AI adoption, cloud computing, and digital innovation, driving the next wave of demand for scalable, high‑performance data centre infrastructure1.
Founded in 2014, Racks Central currently operates a 12 MW colocation data centre in Singapore, serving enterprise and cloud customers. As part of its strategy to develop an AI‑ready data centre corridor across key data centre hubs in Southeast Asia, the company is building a campus in Johor, Malaysia, comprising four large-scale developments with a combined capacity of up to 510 MW.
Sustainability considerations are embedded across Racks Central’s developments, including energy‑efficient design, advanced cooling solutions, and responsible resource management.
1 e-Conomy SEA 2025 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company
About ESR
ESR is a leading Asia-Pacific real asset owner and manager focused on logistics real estate and data centres that power the digital economy and supply chain for investors, customers, and communities. Through our fully integrated real asset fund management and development platform, we strive to create value and growth opportunities for our global portfolio of investors. We offer our customers modern space solutions to realise their ambitions across Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, and India, including a presence in Europe. Our purpose, Space and Investment Solutions for a Sustainable Future, drives us to manage sustainably and impactfully for the communities we serve to thrive for generations to come. Visit www.esr.com for more information.
About Racks Central
Established in 2014, Racks Central is a Singapore-founded and -headquartered data centre developer and operator building AI-ready infrastructure across Southeast Asia. From its Tier III colocation facility in Singapore to a development pipeline of over 500 MW across the Singapore-Johor-Batam (SIJORI) Digital Corridor, Racks Central serves hyperscalers, cloud service providers, and enterprises with secure, scalable, and energy-efficient capacity built for high-density, GPU-intensive workloads. Guided by its purpose to power Southeast Asia's AI economy with sustainable, next-generation digital infrastructure, Racks Central is committed to enabling businesses to thrive in an era of rapid digital transformation. Learn more at www.rackscentral.com.
Media Contacts
ESR
Genevieve Chow, Group Head of Communications
Philemon Foo, Associate Director, Group Communications media@esr.com
CDR for ESR
ESRAsia@cdrconsultancy.com
Racks Central
Janice Low, Manager, Marketing and Business Development
Janice.low@rackscentral.com