KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 13): Data centre operator DayOne Data Centres Ltd has secured an additional RM15 billion in financing from a consortium of seven banks to fund the expansion of its data centre facilities in Johor, bringing its total financing arrangements to RM30 billion.
The latest financing comprises a US$2.4 billion (RM9.8 billion) offshore term loan and a RM5.5 billion Islamic financing facility structured under the Murabahah principle.
The seven lenders are: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB), Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DBS Bank, Malayan Banking Bhd (KL:MAYBANK), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank (UOB), according to a joint statement.
The banks form a consortium of mandated lead arrangers, bookrunners and joint coordinators.
This follows the RM15 billion multi-currency financing secured by DayOne in 2025 for its Johor data centre platform.
In an article by Reuters on Friday, it was reported that the data centre operator was in preliminary talks for financing with banks about a possible US$500 million (RM2.04 billion) bond offering.
CIMB said it is the largest financier across DayOne's combined RM30 billion financing arrangements, while Maybank is the largest provider of ringgit-denominated Islamic financing commitments to the data centre operator.
“...we value the trust placed in us and look forward to continuing our partnership to advance greater regional digital connectivity and long-term economic growth,” said CIMB Group group chief executive officer of group wholesale banking Chu Kok Wei.
Meanwhile, Crédit Agricole CIB's head of telecom finance for Asia-Pacific Jasmine Zhang said Malaysia's data centre capacity is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 39% from 2023, reaching between 4.2 gigawatts (GW) and 6.1GW by 2030.
DBS global head of telecommunications, media and technology Amit Sinha highlighted the growing importance of the Johor-Singapore corridor in supporting AI infrastructure development, given Singapore's established financial and connectivity network and Johor's capacity to accommodate large-scale data centres.
Maybank group chief executive officer of global banking Datuk John Chong also expects the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) blueprint and masterplan to encourage further investments in digital infrastructure.
“The successful upsizing will support the platform's next phase of hyperscale expansion, reflecting continued confidence in Johor's emergence as a leading digital infrastructure hub,” said OCBC head of global corporate banking Elaine Lam.
Standard Chartered head of coverage for Singapore and Asean said Malaysia is becoming increasingly important to the region’s AI infrastructure expansion, while noting that data centre operators require substantial financing to meet rising demand.
“As DayOne's primary relationship bank, UOB is supporting the infrastructure that will underpin Asean's next phase of growth,” said UOB head of group corporate banking Edmund Leong.
Established in 2022, Singapore-based DayOne has expanded its operations across Asia and Europe, with a presence in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Finland and Spain.