Baker McKenzie acted for ESR Group Limited (ESR) as international counsel on the formation of ESR Data Centre Fund I (Fund), a private equity real estate fund which will invest in data centre projects across the Asia Pacific region. The Fund which successfully raised USD 1 billion at its first closing has attracted investments from among the world's largest institutional investors. We also acted as transaction counsel on ESR's investment in joint venture with US-based hyperscaler STACK Infrastructure (STACK) to build a 48-megawatt data centre in Incheon, Seoul.
For the formation of the Fund, the team was led by Principal Derek Kwan and Local Principal Jens Carle, both based in Singapore, who were supported by Associates Jonathan Phay and Gabriel Fang. Other team members involved include real estate Principal Geraldine Ong (Singapore), Partner Rico Chan (Hong Kong) and Special Counsel Mandy Lan (Hong Kong) who advised on the real estate and data centre aspects. Rico and Mandy also led the investment by ESR into the joint venture with STACK.
Commenting on our work with ESR, Derek said: "New economy assets such as data centres are increasingly becoming an critical asset class for managers and investors, as evidenced by ESR's record fundraise. The fact that the client also appointed us to advise ESR's investment in its first joint venture with STACK is a vote of confidence on the team's competencies. It has been a privilege to act as ESR's counsel on these strategic transactions."