A 50:50 JV BETWEEN FIDELITY AND MITSUI

Fidelity Investments, the owner of Colt Data Centre Services (DCS), has just entered into a joint venture agreement with Mitsui & Co, and Mitsui & Co Asset Management Holdings, to provide hyperscale data centers in Japan.

The new 50:50 joint venture between Fidelity and Mitsui is expected to accelerate Colt DCS’ expansion in the Tokyo and Osaka regions of Japan, intended to increase the existing capacity from 50MW to 140MW in Japan.

“Japan remains a strategic country of focus for our regional expansion, where the demand for large-scale data center capacity outstrips supply,” said Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO of Colt DCS.

“Whilst Colt DCS already has a solid reputation in the market for working with the world’s largest hyperscale cloud providers and multi-national companies, the partnership with Mitsui and its strategic alliances will provide new opportunities for us to further penetrate the domestic enterprise sector and accelerate our land banking strategy.”

As announced, the joint venture will appoint Colt Data Centre Services as the exclusive service provider for the design, development, operations and customer service management for the venture. On the other hand, Mitsui & Co., Realty Management Ltd., a private real estate fund management subsidiary of Mitsui will serve as the asset manager for the joint venture, covering structuring, financing, land sourcing, development support and Japanese customer marketing.

“Data centers play a critical role in the digital transformation of businesses across the globe, and the demand for high-quality and environmentally conscious hyperscale data centers is huge,” said Shinsuke Waka, GM of Financial Business Division, Mitsui & Co.

“Through the management of the Mitsui Fund and our joint venture, Mitsui will utilize its unique financial and industrial capabilities to respond jointly to these needs with its global prestigious partners.”

Across the UK and Europe, Colt DCS also recently announced that its operations are now fully powered by 100% renewable energy, as part of the company’s effort to cut down carbon emission across its 17 data centers in these regions to zero.