Stacks of computer servers at a data center.
Gamuda—a Malaysian infrastructure company cofounded by tycoon Lin Yun Ling—said its unit has won contracts worth 1.74 billion ringgit ($372 million) to build Sime Darby Property’s maiden data center near Kuala Lumpur as the race to expand cloud computing infrastructure in Southeast Asia heats up.
Under a 815 million ringgit contract from Sime Darby, Gamuda Engineering will build a structure that will house a hyperscale data center at the Elmina Business Park, about 30 kilometers northeast of Kuala Lumpur. Sime Darby’s partner Pearl Computing Malaysia also awarded Gamuda Engineering a 928.6 million ringgit contract for the fitting out and commissioning of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing works at the facility.
Sime Darby had tied up with Pearl Computing to build the data center on a 49-acre site within the 1,500-acre Elmina Business Park, joining tycoon Francis Yeoh’s YTL Power, which has partnered with billionaire Jensen Huang’s Nvidia to build artificial intelligence-powered data center in the southern Malaysia state of Johor, north of Singapore, in the race to expand cloud computing infrastructure across South East Asia.
“We are excited to embark on our maiden entry into the data center segment, which is rapidly emerging as an important asset class within real estate for which we are well-positioned to expand into,” Azmir Merican, group managing director of Sime Darby Property, said in statement as the company announced its partnership with Pearl Computing. Shares of Sime Darby Property climbed as much as 4% to 1.29 during the morning trading in Kuala Lumpur.
Sime Darby’s entry into the data center space comes on the heels of regional expansion plans unveiled recently by U.S. tech giants. Earlier this month, Amazon said it would invest S$12 billion ($9 billion) in the next four years to expand its cloud computing infrastructure in Singapore, joining Microsoft, which recently announced plans to build data centers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and accelerate the adoption of AI technology in Southeast Asia.
Gamuda shares jumped as much as 3.1% to 6.24 ringgit in during the morning trading in Kuala Lumpur, heading for a record high. Expecting positive contributions from the data center projects and other potential contracts, Maybank said in a research note that it has raised its target price for Gamuda by 13% to 6.85 ringgit and maintained its buy rating.
Founded in 1976 by Lin (who remains Gamuda’s managing director) and partner Koon Yew Yin as a construction company, Gamuda has since grown to become one of Malaysia’s largest infrastructure and real estate companies. Among its major projects is the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel built in partnership with billionaire Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary’s MMC Corp in 2007 in Kuala Lumpur. The dual-purpose tunnel serves as an alternative route to and from the city, while helping to divert excess flood water during typhoons. It has also been expanding overseas and has implemented projects across Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, the U.K. and Vietnam.
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