APAC data center operator Bridge Data Centres has acquired 20 acres of land in Johor, Malaysia.
Real estate and construction holding company Paragon Globe Bhd (PGB) this month announced PBHSB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PGB, had on 2 August 2024, entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Bridge for the disposal of 20 acres of land in the Mukim of Plentong, District of Johor Bahru, State of Johor.
The deal is for a cash consideration of RM99 million ($22.4m).
This is the second land deal between PGB and Bridge. In May the two companies entered a deal for the data center firm to acquire 48 acres adjacent to the latest land buy for RM238.3 million ($53.9m).
Bridge currently has six data centers in operation or development across Malaysia – including one in Johor.
First announced in late 2021 and launched in 2022, phase 1 of the 110MW project covers the first of three buildings across the 38-acre site within the Sedenak Tech Park (STeP). TikTok-owner ByteDance is the anchor tenant of the site.
The company announced plans for the first 16MW building at its MY03 site in Kuala Lumpur’s Mranti Park in 2021 and announced an expansion last year. It unveiled plans for another 100MW campus in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year.
The company operates two facilities in Cyberjaya with a third in development.
Bain bought Chindata in 2019 from Wangsu Science & Technology Co. and merged it with its portfolio firm Bridge Data Centres. The former owns and operates data centers in China, while the latter operates across APAC. Bridge also has a facility in Thailand and is aiming to develop a 20MW data center in Navi Mumbai, India.
Located in Malaysia’s south, Johor is just across the border from Singapore. Though Singapore is starting to ease restrictions around its ongoing moratorium on new data center developments, Johor has grown a sizeable data center market of its own as developments overspill from the city-state. Other developers and operators in Johor include PDG, AirTrunk, Equinix, Keppel, ChinData's Bridge DC, and Yondr.
Johor is reportedly set to introduce new water regulations for data centers.
“We will introduce certain conditions regarding the use of recycling water, rainwater, and the latest technology, so that we can save water," State Investment, Trade, Consumer Affairs, and Human Resources Committee chairman Lee Ting Han told reporters this week.