January 29, 2024, /DCD/ - DCI Data Centers (DCI) and Daelim Co have begun construction of a data center in Seoul, South Korea.
The project is the result of a joint venture between the two companies and will be DCI's first data center in the country.
The data center will be designed for hyperscale clients and businesses with "extensive computing deployments."
Further details about the location, size, and IT capacity of the facility have not been shared. DCD has contacted the company for more information.
Nicholas Toh, CEO of DCI, said: "Building our first Asian data center in Seoul is a crucial step in DCI's targeted Asia expansion strategy. South Korea's position as a technology hub and its commitment to digital transformation have established Seoul as a critical market for our customers. This strategic investment highlights our confidence in South Korea's potential and demonstrates our continued ability to enter new markets that are important for our customer base."
Udhay Mathialagan, CEO of Brookfield’s Global Data Center Platform and chair of DCI Data Centers, added: "Seoul is one of the fastest growing data center markets in Asia and we will continue to support this growth further for our global customers and investors. Our journey to establish this state-of-the-art data center in South Korea has been further enhanced by our esteemed joint venture partner, Daelim."
DCI is a fully-owned portfolio company of Brookfield. Acquired by the latter in 2019, DCI now has more than 10 data center sites with 130MW of IT capacity in development across the APAC region including in Sydney, Adelaide, and Canberra in Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.
Very little information about the joint venture between DCI and Daelim Co is available publicly. The latter is a South Korean company that works in wholesale petrochemicals, cargo transportation, construction, and IT services. It seems likely that the companies were advised by Bremer on the joint venture, with DCI getting a 65 percent stake in the JV - dubbed Gasan DC JV Co. Ltd (JVC) - and Daelim the remaining 35 percent.
The application for the joint venture was made to the Competition Commission of Pakistan on 24 May, 2022. According to the application, Daelim has operations in Pakistan for the sale of polymer products, polyethylene, and plant construction.
The application goes on to state: "[The] JVCO shall be primarily engaged in the development and operation of data centers and provision of data center services in South Korea." The transaction was valued at KRW 49.9bn (~$37.36m).
Gasan-dong is a neighborhood in Seoul, which may suggest the data center will be located in the region, given the joint venture is called Gasan DC JV. In June 2022, STT GDC also announced plans for a data center in the Gasan-dong area of Seoul.
Other companies developing data centers in the South Korean capital include Equinix, GIC, and Empyrion.
