A&O, Abdullah Chan act on USD1.2bn Malaysia data centres deal

https://law.asia/sime-darby-property-data-centre-deal-malaysia

A&O Shearman and Abdullah Chan & Co have advised Sime Darby Property (SDP) on a USD1.2 billion agreement to build and lease data centres in Malaysia with Pearl Computing Malaysia, a wholly owned subsidiary of multinational tech company Raiden APAC.

In an interview with Asia Business Law Journal, Yap Hui Lu, partner at Abdullah Chan & Co, said the involvement of seasoned and commercially savvy experts on both sides introduced unique complexities to the negotiation and documentation process, fostering a highly collaborative, goal-orientated approach.

This transaction marks SDP’s second collaboration with Pearl Computing and highlights the Malaysian firm’s forward-looking steps to pivot from property development to real estate investment as well as the increasing focus on digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia, responding to the growing demand for cloud services and data storage.

Yap expressed her satisfaction with the outcome, emphasising that both parties successfully reached a mutually beneficial agreement and the project would hopefully help catalyse the real estate investment space in Malaysia, which is rather nascent compared with more developed markets.

The transaction saw collaboration across jurisdictions, with Abdullah Chan & Co’s lead partner Yap and A&O Shearman’s partner Saranpaal Calais as international counsel.

The project is scheduled for completion by December 2027.

https://law.asia/sime-darby-property-data-centre-deal-malaysia