GLP, a leading global thematic business builder and investment manager, announced the closing of its first digital infrastructure focused strategy (“GLP China IDC Income Fund I”) at RMB 2.6 billion AUM.
The capital raise was backed by a group of top tier China-based and international institutional investors and marks a key milestone for GLP in a fast-growing new economy asset class which has been a strategic focus area for the company since 2018.
Drawing from its logistics industry playbook, GLP has built a vertically integrated platform offering full stack capabilities from technical design, development, asset management, leasing/sales and operations.
The fund will acquire a fully operational, high-performance data center developed by GLP and fully leased to a leading e-commerce company. Located in Greater Beijing region, the seed asset is constructed to tier III+ (T3+) standards, with a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
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Teresa Zhuge, Executive Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Executive Committee of GLP China said, “Digital infrastructure is essential to the adoption and advancement of AI. GLP China IDC Income Fund I is indicative of strong investor demand for stable income streams backed by high quality real assets with the potential of long-term capital appreciation. With our operating and investment expertise, customer access and a track record of growth at scale, we are confident in building a competitive and differentiated data center business to capture outsized growth in the new digital economy,”.
GLP has been deeply involved in China’s real estate sector for over two decades, and through its knowledge and expertise in the market, was able to anticipate the explosive growth potential of the country’s data center market which is currently experiencing exponential demand. The rise in adoption of AI, cloud services, 5G communications and Internet of Things continue to drive demand for domestic data center capacity, with the data center market in China forecasted to increase by USD 274 billion at a CAGR of over 38% from 2025-20291. This is supported by government-led policies aimed at driving AI-enabled innovation and growth across a range of industries.
As one of the country’s leading independent data center operators, GLP controls assets that will deliver 1.4 GW secured IT capacity in total, including 20 data centers across the four core regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, The Yangtze River Delta, the Greater Bay Area and the Mid-Western Region.
GLP China IDC offers build-to-suit, turn-key and powered shell solutions for both hyperscalers and enterprise customers and employs innovative and sustainable solutions including the use of flexible cooling, renewable energy and smart operation systems to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon impact of its assets. The company was recognized with the Innovation in Data Center Cooling award at the W.Media Asia Pacific Cloud & Data Center Awards 2024.
About GLP
GLP is a leading global thematic business builder and investment manager, focused on creating scaled platforms within its core sectors of logistics, digital infrastructure and renewable energy.
The Group, through its asset management arm GLP Capital Partners, manages approximately US$80 billion of assets under management and has a proven track record of incubating and scaling platforms across markets and strategies through development, strategic M&A and partnerships.
