The real estate investment trust will gain control of two completed hyperscale data centres, Keppel DC Singapore 7 and 8, it said in an exchange filing on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The property value will rise to S$1.38 billion, after including a proposed extension of the land tenure lease, according to the filing. 

Keppel DC REIT is purchasing the assets from a joint venture, backed by its sponsor Keppel Ltd, and Cuscaden Peak Investments Pte Ltd, which are both backed by Singapore investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. A nearby vacant land plot earmarked for a third data centre has been carved out of the deal. The REIT is planning to raise at least S$985 million through an equity offering to help fund the transaction, it said in a separate filing.

As part of that, Keppel DC REIT is aiming to raise at least S$600 million in a private placement, offering new units at S$2.074 to S$2.128 apiece. It’s also raising funds from existing investors through a non-renounceable preferential offering, and will sell new units to its sponsor. 

Citigroup Inc, DBS Group Holdings Ltd, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), HSBC Holdings Plc, UBS Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, and RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK) are arranging the equity offering. 

Data centres have been drawing investor interest, thanks to their promising growth prospects, as the world increasingly turns to technology such as artificial intelligence Among major recent deals, Blackstone Inc acquired Australia’s AirTrunk in its biggest investment ever in the Asia-Pacific region.

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