Keppel T&T invests additional $50m in Securus Fund

Will partly fund "next phase of growth".

In a release, Keppel Data Centre Investment Management Pte. Ltd. (Keppel DCIM) and AEP Investment Management Pte. Ltd. (AEPim), as Joint Investment Managers of Securus Data Property Fund (Securus Fund or Fund), announced that Securus Fund's second closing with capital commitments totalling US$170 million.

Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd (Keppel T&T) and AEP Capital Ltd are co-sponsors of Securus Fund, which is the world's first Shariah-compliant data centre fund.

Keppel T&T, through its wholly owned subsidiary Keppel Data Centres Pte. Ltd. (KDCPL) has committed to invest an additional US$50 million in Securus Fund, making it the single largest shareholder of the Fund when the second raising is fully deployed.

Securus Fund's initial closing, achieved at US$100 million in June 2010, has since been deployed in the acquisition of four high quality data centre assets in Australia, Malaysia and the UK.

Mr Bruno Lopez, CEO, Data Centres, Keppel T&T and Executive Director of Keppel DCIM, said, "As a data centre operator in Singapore and Dublin, Keppel T&T has witnessed the growth in the data centre requirements of our customers and their expansions in Asia Pacific and Europe. We believe in the long-term fundamentals and growth potential of the data centre market.

"Leveraging Keppel T&T's experience in the data centre sector, Securus Fund has achieved strong traction in the acquisition of several high quality data centre assets in Asia Pacific and Europe in the past two years. Capitalising on this momentum, the second closing is aimed at facilitating the Fund's next phase of growth."

Securus Fund intends to continue its investment strategy of acquiring high quality data centre assets across its target markets in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. The Fund is currently assessing a number of pipeline opportunities within these markets.

Mr Jonathan King, Principal of AEPim, said, "The capital raising received strong response from both existing and new investors, including the Hong Kong-based Profit Trend Investment Limited. We are committed to continue executing our strategy and provide quality returns to our investors. We appreciate the confidence demonstrated in our proven track record and look forward to continuing to expand our portfolio of high quality data centre assets."

Keppel said that data centre demand has been driven by the rapid rise of information-centric trends such as e-commerce, social networking and file sharing, increasingly stringent data-related regulatory requirements and technology advancements such as cloud computing. Supply of data centre space has been unable to match the growth in demand.