Cool Vector Hot Takes: Microsoft’s Contracts, Building in Johor, RE Allocations, Blackstone’s Utility

This episode of Cool Vector Hot Takes tackles four hot topics in the global digital infrastructure market: 1) Has Microsoft been oversupplied data centers? 2) Inside the plan for Southeast Asia’s largest data center 3) Real estate investor love for data centers keeps rising 4) Blackstone’s low-carbon power move in Virginia’s data center alley.

This round, the Cool Vector editorial team of David Snow, Phillip Koblence and Nabeel Mahmood is joined by Obinna Isiadinso, Global Sector Lead for Data Centers at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a division of the World Bank. 

In a lively exchange, our CVHT panelists respond to a recent report from TD Cowen that Microsoft has cancelled data center leases in the US worth two hundred megawatts, and that the company is reallocating international data center investment back to the US. Koblence, Mahmood and Isiadinso agree that despite some scaling back, Microsoft remains committed to significant infrastructure investment, signaling confidence in long-term demand. They also touch on how hyperscalers must adjust their very large plans in real time, and why these shifts should be seen as strategic recalibrations rather than signs of evaporating demand.

The discussion turns to the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure in Southeast Asia, with a $900 million investment in a Johor, Malaysia, data center mega-project led by Yondr Group. The deal includes significant financing from Isiadinso’s IFC. He explains the importance of the pre-contract financing provided to Yondr, and the panel discusses the compelling demand profile of Southeast Asia, still in the very early stages of building out digital infrastructure sufficient to meet an expected explosion in regional growth.

The conversation then shifts to the growing interest in data centers from real estate investors. A recent KPMG survey reveals 40% of investors now see data centers as the most attractive asset class, up from 27% last year. The experts discuss what’s driving this rising enthusiasm, how data centers straddle the asset classes of real estate and infrastructure, and how these assets increasingly are seen as long-term and recession-resistant.

Finally, the panel examines Blackstone’s $1 billion investment in a hydrogen-ready power plant in Northern Virginia, the “Data Center Alley” that processes roughly one fourth of America’s compute. Blackstone, they agree, is being very strategic positioning itself as a provider of low-carbon energy to the most important data center hub in the world. The experts note that Blackstone now has key investments across the data center value chain, in energy, construction and data centers themselves.

 

Watch the full episode on Cool Vector’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CoolVector

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