GIC, Equinix and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announce JV, aims to raise US$15 bil to expand data centres in US

Cherlyn Yeoh
1-min read

The JV is intended to accelerate the Equinix xScale data centre portfolio.

Equinix, on Oct 2, announced that it has signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) in the form of a limited liability partnership with GIC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), with the intention of raising over US$15 billion ($19.3 billion) in capital.

The JV is intended to accelerate the Equinix xScale data centre portfolio, which enables hyperscale companies to add core deployments to their existing access point footprints at Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres.

The capital raised will be used to purchase land to build new xScale facilities on multiple more than 100 megawatts (MW) campuses in the US, with a view to adding more than 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity for hyperscale customers.

While this agreement represents the first JV between Equinix and CPP Investments, Equinix has previously partnered with GIC on xScale projects in Asia, the Americas and Europe.

Under the terms of the agreement, CPP Investments and GIC will each have a 37.5% equity interest in the JV and Equinix will have a 25% equity interest. Each party has made equity commitments and the JV expects to take on debt to raise the US$15 billion in capital.

Goh Chin Kiong, chief investment officer (CIO) of real estate at GIC, recognises that this JV addresses “a massive and growing demand for digital infrastructure, driven by the rapid advancement of technology, including AI”, adding that “GIC’s capital and scale, paired with Equinix’s operational expertise, has driven meaningful value across our investments together”.

The closing of the JV is subject to required regulatory approvals, which are expected to be received in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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