Real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners announced today that the firm, through a fund under its management, has entered into various agreements with IMM Investment Corp. (“IMM Investment”), a leading Korean private equity firm, for Gaw Capital to make a strategic investment in Dreammark1 and form a mutual strategic partnership to grow Dreamline Co. (“Dreamline”).
This partnership will further expand the Dreamline telecommunications business and is the first step for Gaw Capital to tap into the Korea IDC market, it said in a statement. Gaw Capital will continue to seek additional opportunities in South Korea, where IDC demand has been growing due to the government’s policy of moving into cloud computing, the statement added.
Established in 1997, Dreamline has a long history of operating businesses in the ICT field based on the technology and expertise it has accumulated over the past 20 years. The company operates a nationwide optical fiber network providing high speed leased lines to enterprise and hyperscale customers as well as data centre services via its subsidiary Dreammark1. Kok Chye Ong, Managing Director – Head of IDC Platform, Asia (Ex-China) of Gaw Capital Partners, said:
“We are delighted to have seized on this favorable investment in South Korea, which brings significant strategic value to our pan-Asia IDC platform. The surging demand for data centres in Asia Pacific continues to grow due to increased Internet usage driven by the pandemic, and we are committed to the principles of sustainable development of such centres through the application of ESG initiatives such as appropriate construction waste management, and renewable power sources exploration, that will further enhance our competitiveness in the data centre sector. Gaw Capital will continue to look for new investment opportunities and partnerships in South Korea.”
South Korea presence
Established in 2016, Dreammark1 is an internet data centre (IDC) operator based in Seoul, South Korea, that owns a data centre in Guro, Seoul with a capacity of over 1,200 racks and power supply of 10MW. Having established a market position as one of the top-tier carrier-neutral IDC operators in Korea, Dreammark1 is independent from the major carrier providers in the country hence its clients are provided a wide selection of network services.
Facilities of Dreammark1 are protected by a dual-source electricity supply system and earthquake-resistant design that ensures data protection in addition to superior capabilities to provide uninterrupted services to its clients. Dreammark1 currently has a number of blue-chip tenants that are attracted by Dreammark1’s exceptional service quality. Dreammark1 is also an investor in the upcoming Jukjeon Data centre project.
Located in the eastern part of Seoul metropolitan area, Jukjeon Data centre is close to the Pangyo Techno Valley, a technology hub known as South Korea’s Silicon Valley. In recent years, IDC has been a focus sector for Gaw Capital Partners as the data centre industry is one of the cornerstones of the digital economy, which is growing rapidly with broad prospects.
The firm was also highlighted for launching two data centre platforms in China and one in pan-Asia. In September 2020, the firm closed fundraising for its first IDC platform, which invested in a portfolio of projects in partnership with IDC developers and operators in China, bringing the total equity raised to approximately US$1.3 billion with the aim to build “green, efficient, innovative and recyclable” data centre clusters.
Following this announcement, the Gaw Capital global data centre platform comprises of data centres located in China, Indonesia, Japan and now in South Korea. In February, DreamMark 1 had said that it is increasing its server footprint, in excess of 400 racks and an ICT floor, for an exclusive high electric power zone this year.
