Equinix Weighs Malaysia Fundraising as Johor Data Centre Investments Accelerate
The US-listed digital infrastructure operator is reportedly exploring a minority stake sale in its Johor facility as it expands its Malaysian footprint to serve growing cloud, AI and enterprise demand.
Equinix
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US-listed data centre operator Equinix is exploring fundraising options for its Malaysian business, including a potential minority stake sale in its Johor facility, as the country attracts growing investment in digital infrastructure to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence. DealStreetAsia first reported these plans last week.
The potential fundraising comes as Equinix expands its presence in Malaysia with new facilities in Johor and Kuala Lumpur. The company has not publicly disclosed the size of any proposed stake sale, potential investors or the amount it might seek to raise.
The potential transaction would bring another capital-raising opportunity to the fore in Johor, where digital infrastructure developers have attracted substantial financing to build facilities serving ASEAN’s expanding cloud and AI markets.
Earlier this month, Singapore-headquartered DayOne Data Centers secured an additional RM15 Bn ($3.7 Bn) in financing from seven lenders to support the development of its Johor platform. The arrangement comprises a $2.4 Bn offshore term loan and an RM5.5 Bn Murabahah facility, a form of Islamic financing. It doubles DayOne’s platform financing to RM30 Bn, including RM15 Bn secured in 2025.
The financing was arranged by CIMB, Crédit Agricole CIB, DBS, Maybank, OCBC, Standard Chartered and UOB, underscoring the participation of regional and international banks in Malaysia’s digital infrastructure expansion.
For Equinix, the reported fundraising comes alongside a multi-year investment programme designed to strengthen its network of interconnected data centres across Malaysia.
The California-headquartered company entered Malaysia in November 2022, with plans for JH1, a facility in Johor’s Nusajaya Tech Park that opened in May 2024 after an initial investment of about $40 Mn. Located about 15 km from Singapore, the facility opened with capacity for up to 500 cabinets and forms part of Equinix’s regional interconnection network.
Equinix is developing a second Johor facility, JH2, with an initial investment of $201 Mn. The project reached its topping-out milestone in November 2025 and is designed to accommodate 2,225 cabinets. Situated within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), the facility is scheduled to become operational in the third quarter of 2027.
The company is also expanding in Kuala Lumpur. In May 2026, Equinix announced plans to invest more than $190 Mn in KL2, a purpose-built data centre in Cyberjaya. Located less than a kilometre from its existing KL1 facility, the new development will accommodate more than 2,200 cabinets at full build-out, making it the company’s fourth Malaysian facility.
One Aged Care–Active Global: The Combined Asset Footprint
| Asset Metric | One Aged Care (Pre-Deal) | Active Global (at Acquisition) | Combined Platform Footprint |
| Service Capabilities | Residential nursing care, home care, senior day care, rehabilitation, emergency ambulance and medical transport | Home nursing, home medical, personal care, therapy, live-in caregivers and senior care centres | Integrated residential, home-based and community care, supported by rehabilitation and medical transport |
| Markets | Singapore and Malaysia | Singapore and Hong Kong | Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong |
| Residential Nursing-Home Beds | 15 nursing homes with more than 2,400 beds | None; home-care provider | More than 2,400 existing beds; four additional nursing homes planned over the following year, potentially taking capacity to more than 3,800 beds |
| Logistics & Fleet | More than 50 ambulances and medical transport vehicles | Home-visit and centre-based care | More than 50 ambulances and medical transport vehicles |
| Care Networks & Public-Sector Schemes | Nursing-home and community-care networks in Singapore | MOH-subsidised home care in Singapore; recognised provider under Hong Kong’s Community Care Service Voucher Scheme | Nursing-home and community-care networks, plus MOH-subsidised home care in Singapore and participation in Hong Kong’s community-care voucher scheme |
Sources: TPG; One Aged Care (October 26, 2026); Active Global; Singapore’s Agency for Integrated Care (AIC); Hong Kong Social Welfare Department (SWD)
Equinix’s Malaysia Data Centre Expansion
| Facility | Location | Investment Announced | Cabinet Capacity | Operational Status |
| JH1 | Nusajaya Tech Park, Johor | ~$40 Mn (initial) | 500 | Opened in 2024 |
| KL1 | Cyberjaya, Kuala Lumpur | More than $100 Mn | 900 | Opened in 2024; second phase completed in May 2025 |
| JH2 | Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) | $201 Mn (initial) | 2,225 planned | Under construction; opening targeted for Q3 2027 |
| KL2 | Cyberjaya, Kuala Lumpur | More than $190 Mn (total planned investment) | More than 2,200 planned | Under construction; opening targeted for Q2 2027 |
Sources: Equinix corporate announcements (November 2022, June 2023, May 2024, May and November 2025, May 2026); Equinix 2025 Form 10-K
Note: Investment figures reflect company announcements at different development stages, not necessarily final expenditure. Planned cabinet capacity is not yet operational capacity.
The expansion reflects a business model that extends beyond providing physical data centre space. Equinix operates a global colocation and interconnection platform that enables enterprises, network operators and cloud providers to connect their infrastructure across different markets.
That connectivity is increasingly relevant to companies operating across ASEAN, where digital applications, cloud infrastructure and computing workloads may be distributed across several countries.
According to Equinix, more than two-thirds of the customers at its existing KL1 facility operate across multiple metropolitan markets. The company has positioned its Malaysian facilities as part of an interconnected network linking Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Singapore.
In August, Equinix expanded Microsoft Azure connectivity at its data centres in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, enabling businesses to connect directly to cloud infrastructure for AI applications, hybrid multicloud deployments and other enterprise workloads.
The expansion also highlights the difference between conventional colocation and AI’s greater infrastructure demands. Equinix said a substantial portion of KL2’s planned capacity would support advanced liquid-cooling solutions for AI and high-performance computing.
Malaysia’s appeal as a destination for digital infrastructure investment rests partly on its proximity to Singapore, an established regional hub for cloud services, telecommunications and enterprise computing. Johor offers a neighbouring location from which operators can serve businesses that need connectivity across both markets.
Equinix Malaysia’s managing director Cheam Tat Inn highlighted that advantage in January, telling Bernama that Johor’s proximity to Singapore provides access to a developed digital ecosystem through low-latency connectivity.
The company has also emphasised the importance of matching new capacity with customer requirements and infrastructure readiness. In comments reported by Bernama on October 14, Cheam said data centre expansion should be demand-led and co-ordinated with utilities, policymakers and industry participants.
Under Malaysia’s Budget 2027, national utility Tenaga Nasional will invest RM15 Bn to strengthen the national electricity grid, as part of its RM43 Bn grid investment programme for 2025–2027. Equinix has identified the grid investment as important to the sustainable expansion of digital infrastructure.
The investment requirements are considerable. Data centres require substantial upfront spending on land, buildings, electrical systems, cooling equipment and network connectivity, while revenue depends on securing customers and bringing capacity online.
Against that backdrop, financing structures have become a key factor in ASEAN’s data centre expansion. DayOne’s Johor facilities illustrate the scale of debt funding available for hyperscale developments, while Equinix’s reported exploration of a minority stake sale points to another potential route for attracting capital into the sector.
Whether Equinix proceeds with a transaction, and how any investment would be structured, remains uncertain.
For Malaysia, however, broader investment activity shows Johor is becoming a major digital infrastructure market alongside Singapore, attracting operators, financial institutions and technology companies seeking to build capacity for the region’s growing digital economy.
US-listed data centre operator Equinix is exploring fundraising options for its Malaysian business, including a potential minority stake sale in its Johor facility, as the country attracts growing investment in digital infrastructure to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence. DealStreetAsia first reported these plans last week.
The potential fundraising comes as Equinix expands its presence in Malaysia with new facilities in Johor and Kuala Lumpur. The company has not publicly disclosed the size of any proposed stake sale, potential investors or the amount it might seek to raise.
The potential transaction would bring another capital-raising opportunity to the fore in Johor, where digital infrastructure developers have attracted substantial financing to build facilities serving ASEAN’s expanding cloud and AI markets.
