Baker McKenzie has advised Gaw Capital Partners ("Gaw Capital") on its partnership with GDS, a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in Asia, to build a 40-megawatt carrier-neutral data center campus in Fuchu, west Tokyo.
Gaw Capital, through a fund under its management, has acquired two adjacent data center sites located in Fuchu Intelligent Park, a well-established data center cluster less than 30 kilometers from central Tokyo. Spanning a total land size of 10,969 square meters and with IT capacity expected to reach 40 megawatts, it will be the largest data center facility in Fuchu City in terms of IT load. GDS has already garnered preliminary customer demands and the operation is expected to commence by the end of 2026.
Baker McKenzie fielded a cross-border team of data center and real estate specialists to advise Gaw Capital on this transaction. The team comprised of Special Counsel Mandy Lan and Associate Elaine Lin* in Hong Kong, Partners Maki Kawamura and Seishi Ikeda and Associate Ryota Hiyamizu from the Tokyo office, and is led by Hong Kong based Partner Jason Ng.
Commenting on the deal, Jason said: "We couldn't be more pleased to be able to assist Gaw Capital on another strategic transaction, this time as it continues its expansion in the Internet Data Center space. There is growing demand for secure, scalable and state-of-the-art digital infrastructure in Japan, and this deal exemplifies Gaw Capital's foresight in anticipating and meeting the future needs of businesses in the region. We look forward to continuing to support Gaw Capital with their legal needs as they continue to further grow their investments portfolio in Asia Pacific.”
Baker McKenzie has advised Gaw Capital on a long list of significant transactions over the years, including most recently its partnership with BW ESS to launch investment platform for battery projects in Australia, the formation and successful closing of Gateway Real Estate Fund VII, which raised USD 3 billion in total equity (including sidecar co-investments), among many others.
*registered foreign lawyer