NTT Data and Tokyo Century (TC) are expanding their joint venture (JV) data center in Chicago, Illinois, alongside a $340 million investment by the Japanese government’s Fund Corporation for the Overseas Development of Japan’s ICT and Postal Service (JICT).

The expansion will reportedly add a third building to the site, which has a planned capacity of 104MW.

TC invested in NTT’s Chicago data center through TC Global Investments America LLC in 2024. NTT had originally planned to build two data centers on the campus, but following Tokyo Century’s investment, it said it would deliver three data centers.

According to TC, it will transfer a 30 percent stake in the joint venture, NTT Global Data Centers JV, to JICT US, JICT’s US-based special purpose company.

JICT is a public-private fund that aims to support Japanese companies in telecoms, broadcasting, and postal services overseas by supplying risk investment for infrastructure development.

It has previously worked with TC and NTT Group on a data center business in India.

TC said the new investment would strengthen the strategic alliance between the three organizations and “utilize JICT’s expertise and insight to operate and monitor data centers, aiming for further business expansion and value improvement.”

“Under this strategic framework, Tokyo Century will invest in data centers as demand for them is growing due to the expansion of data communication volume, fueled by AI and big data usage,” TC said.

“The company will thus promote the development of digital infrastructure and accelerate valuable initiatives for society, with the aim of achieving the Medium-Term Management Plan 2027.”

As part of this investment, TC said that its three consolidated subsidiaries, NTT Global Data Centers JV, NTT Global Data Centers Holding CH, and NTT Global Data Centers, will be converted to equity-method affiliates, with its ownership ratio dropping from 80 percent to 50 percent.