Digital Halo Announces Platform Launch As Demand for Digital Infrastructure in Asia Grows

Digital Halo (DH), a regional digital infrastructure platform based in Singapore, has announced its official launch, which will capitalise on the growing demand for digitized information tech and operations solutions in Southeast and North Asia.

Co-founded by Charles Cosgrove and Kai Goh, DH is an affiliate of Arch Capital Management, a leading Asia-Pacific-focused private equity real estate investment manager with over USD5.6 billion under management and advisory featuring both opportunistic and core strategies. This latest initiative extends the Asia-Pacific strategic partnership announced by Arch Capital with Manulife Investment Management in February 2022 beyond real estate to digital infrastructure.

“Digital Halo further extends Manulife Investment Management’s private markets buildout in Asia leveraging on the strong strategic partnership with Arch Capital. The Digital Halo launch underscores our strong commitment to Asia and provides the foothold for our investments into the digital infrastructure sector in Asia (ex-China), taking our trademark approach in combining local investment expertise with global institutionalised standards and enhancing our offerings to investors. We look forward to working with the Digital Halo team to achieve our shared vision for the platform,” said, Myron Zhu, Head of Private Markets, Asia, Manulife Investment Management.

DH will invest in, develop and operate digital infrastructure assets including data centres, fibres and towers, as well as renewable power. In the data centre sector, DH will offer built-to-suit and colocation solutions to meet hyperscale and enterprise customer requirements in the target markets. It aims to develop next generation, state-of-the-art data storage and processing facilities that prioritise sustainability, powered by renewable energy and featuring energy and water-efficient designs.

The first DH data centre will be launched in Manila. Together with its affiliated investment vehicles, DH will manage and own a proposed 70MW data centre campus on a 3.75-hectare freehold land parcel in Cainta. The proposed development involves a retrofit of an existing industrial facility with 6MW planned IT capacity in the first phase, with ready-for-service commencing from end 2023. Future phases will be new developments.

Charles Cosgrove, currently President of Arch Capital, will serve as Executive Chairman for DH. With over three decades’ experience in global telecommunications, real assets and infrastructure over a distinguished career with Singapore Telecom, Ayala Corporation and Arch Capital Management, Charles was instrumental in key strategic transactions for Singtel, including Globe Telecom, NetCom AS and Stjarn TV, and has served on boards for the aforementioned companies as well as Yorkshire Cable and Cambridge Cable. He also oversaw significant parts of Singtel’s business development and investment programmes in fixed network, cable television and wireless networks. He is a graduate of Stanford University and Georgetown Law School, and a retired member of the New York State Bar.

Charles Cosgrove, Executive Chairman, Digital Halo, said, “After living and working in Singapore for over 30 years, I find myself looking back on my time in Southeast Asia and now see so much opportunity for our region, especially in our chosen areas of digital infrastructure. From our home in Singapore, I see a bright and compelling future for Digital Halo’s highly focused strategy on key regional markets and customers. We are in the right place at the right time.”

Kai Goh, the DH Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer, will be responsible for leading and building up the team and platform. Kai is an industry veteran with over 15 years’ experience across digital infrastructure and real estate private equity. Prior to co-founding DH, Kai was with Keppel Group where he held senior positions at Keppel Data Centres and Keppel Capital. As Head M&A and Strategic Initiatives at Keppel Data Centres, he led their corporate development, M&A, strategy and decarbonisation initiatives. He was also Portfolio Manager for the US$1 billion Alpha Data Centre Fund at Keppel Capital, where he was instrumental in establishing and raising the investment vehicle; and the investment and asset management of its data centre portfolio across the Asia-Pacific. Kai is a graduate of Stanford University and Cornell University with engineering degrees from both institutions; and holds the CFA and FRM charters.

The team will be joined by Tan Lee Kheng, who will be appointed Chief Technology Officer with effect from 16 Jan 2023, where she will lead the technical aspects for DH encompassing design, project delivery, safety, operational excellence and sustainability. Lee Kheng is an accomplished data centre design, construction and operation executive with an exemplary record and over 20 years’ experience designing and building best-in-class data centres for global hyperscale and enterprise customers involving over 2 million sqft and over USD3 billion in total development cost. Prior to joining DH, Lee Kheng led the engineering and project management teams at Keppel Data Centres where she was responsible for the entire development lifecycle from site selection, technical solutioning, financial budgeting, procurement, project development and operational delivery. Lee Kheng is a graduate of Nanyang Technological University and a Tier professional accredited by Uptime Institute across multiple data centre disciplines including Specialist, Designer and Operations.

Richard Yue, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Arch Capital, said, “The digital infrastructure sector in Asia is among the fastest growing markets in the world, with demand outpacing supply. We are delighted to welcome the Digital Halo team, who bring exceptional and unparalleled expertise and experience in telecommunication and data centres to the platform.”