Japanese technology firm NEC has sold some of its data centers to DigitalBridge.

DigitalBridge and Japan Extensive Infrastructure (JEXI) this week announced the completion of the acquisition of select data center assets from NEC Corporation by their respective affiliated funds. Terms of the deal were not shared.

In its own release, NEC said it was divesting assets of the NEC Kanagawa Data Center and NEC Kobe Data Center to a joint venture company financed by funds managed and advised by DigitalBridge and JEXI in a deal set to close at the end of March.

Following completion of the transaction, the data center assets will be operated as a new standalone platform. NEC will remain as the anchor customer, and the facilities will be opened up to other colocation customers.

"Japan presents a compelling opportunity in enterprise colocation, supported by resilient domestic demand and strong structural tailwinds," said Justin Chang, senior managing director and head of Asia at DigitalBridge. "We are privileged to partner with NEC, one of the leading IT Services companies in Japan. As we expand these assets over time, we look forward to serving the needs of other Japanese data center customers."

JEXI is an investment advisory company within the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, focused on domestic infrastructure. The company invests in a wide range of infrastructure areas, including digital infrastructure that “supports Japan’s growth, decarbonization initiatives, and social infrastructure that underpins sustainable regional development.”

"We are delighted to partner with DigitalBridge and NEC to create a stable, domestically anchored data center platform that can scale with market needs," said Kenjiro Okamura, chief investment officer and representative director at JEXI. "Through this transaction, we will provide financial support to evolve NEC’s business structure, enhancing capital efficiency and enabling greater focus on its DX business. Simultaneously, we will continue contributing to the development of Japan’s digital infrastructure sectors."

According to its cloud solutions page, NEC operates three core cloud data centers: one in Kobe to the west of Osaka, another in Kanagawa to the south of Tokyo, and one in the Inzai area to Tokyo’s east that was completed in 2022.

After first announcing plans in 2022, NEC launched two new data center buildings at its campuses in Kanagawa and Kobe in 2024, both expanding on existing sites operated by the company.

News that NEC might be looking to offload its data centers first surfaced in 2024, with reports at the time suggesting the company was valuing the assets at around $400-500 million.

In its own announcement this week, NEC noted that, despite the divestment, the company will continue to build new data centers of its own going forward and “promote the expansion of data center services through various partnerships” in Japan and globally.

"We are excited to enter into this transaction with DigitalBridge, who has various experience globally in data center operations, together with the local expertise of JEXI, will support our evolving infrastructure requirements in Japan. This transaction enables us to continue to meet the data center needs of our customers through a more flexible colocation model capable of evolving over time," said Yuka Shigesawa, NEC’s managing director of cloud/managed services division.

NEC also operates a facility in Nagoya, and smaller data centers across the country, including Ehime prefecture on Shikoku Island; Fukuoka City on Kyushu Island; Sapporo City on Hokkaido Island; Hiroshima; Tokyo; and Kanagawa Prefecture (but separate to the cloud Kanagawa facility) in Kawasaki City, Yokohama City, and East Japan.

NEC also has a data center joint venture with local system integrator SCSK, which is part of the Sumitomo Corporation conglomerate. SCSK operates eight data centers in Japan totaling 84,000 sqm (904,170 sq ft) through its netXDC subsidiary [not to be confused with Australia's NextDC].

DigitalBridge is a major investor in data centers, fiber, and cell towers, with some $115 billion in assets under management across more than 45 companies. Companies under DigitalBridge's ownership include Vantage, Switch, DataBank, AtlasEdge, Scala, Yondr, Digita, JTower, Zayom VerticalBridge, and others. The firm is in the process of being acquired by Japanese technology firm SoftBank.