Koramco to Invest 10 Trillion Won in Data Centers by 2032

'K Square Gasan IDC' to Be Completed by End of This Month
Establishment of Dedicated Data Center Division

Koramco Asset Management announced on June 12 that it will expand its investments in data centers ahead of the completion of the 'K Square Data Center Gasan' project.

Recently, Koramco signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MOU) with LG Uplus regarding the development and operation of data centers. The company has also begun the process of establishing a project finance vehicle (PFV) to develop a massive-scale data center in Busan with an estimated power capacity of about 40MW and Tier III specifications.

Koramco is currently focusing on data centers as a core growth driver and is actively investing in this sector. The soon-to-be-completed K Square Data Center Gasan is a massive-scale Tier III data center built on a site of approximately 6,200 square meters, with a total floor area of 41,214 square meters (about 12,496 pyeong). It is a rare new data center in Seoul, where new supply is limited. Koramco began development in 2021, before the AI industry gained widespread attention, and is now seeing the results after about four years.

The company is simultaneously pushing forward with large-scale data center development projects in major locations nationwide, including Seonggok in Ansan, Yonghyeon in Uijeongbu, and the Busan IDC. The Yonghyeon Data Center in Uijeongbu is a large-scale Tier III data center with a total floor area of 25,020 square meters (about 7,568 pyeong). In addition, the Seonggok Data Center in Ansan and the Busan Data Center are both massive-scale Tier III data centers, each securing a power capacity of 40MW during development.

Based on these three ongoing development projects, Koramco aims to raise its competitiveness to the highest level in Korea by accumulating experience in all aspects of data center development, from site discovery and investment to design, construction, and operation. In the medium to long term, the company plans to raise 5 trillion won in funding by 2028 and invest a total of 10 trillion won in data centers by 2032.

Koramco is set to become the only asset management company in Korea to independently operate data centers with a total power capacity of about 1.4GW and a total IT-load of 1GW. The company also plans to establish the first-ever data center REIT in Korea and list it on the KOSPI market, leveraging its existing data center assets.

The company is rapidly building its organizational and human resource foundation to execute its roadmap. In March, Koramco established the 'Data Center Headquarters,' a specialized team dedicated to data centers. This independent investment division consolidates data center experts who were previously spread across different departments. The team, composed mainly of professionals from telecommunications and the data center industry, is focused on optimizing every stage of data center investment, from site selection and strategy development to design, construction and operation management, and asset management. Recently, the Data Center Headquarters announced plans to launch a blind fund dedicated to data centers, with a target size of 1 trillion won.

As the technology industry rapidly undergoes digital transformation, driven by generative AI and cloud-based data management, demand for data centers is surging. In response, global alternative investment firms are aggressively increasing their investments in data centers. The industry is characterized by strong stability and profitability, underpinned by sustained growth.

Blackstone, the world's largest alternative investment firm, has increased its data center investments by about tenfold over the past three years, reaching approximately $100 billion (about 137 trillion won). KKR has also announced plans to invest about $50 billion (about 68 trillion won) in data centers in the future. Sovereign wealth funds such as Singapore's GIC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) are already investing in domestic data center development projects.

Park Hyungseok, CEO of Koramco Asset Management, said, "Through the development of the Gasan IDC, Koramco has accumulated practical expertise in every stage of the data center investment lifecycle, from site discovery and design to permitting, construction, and operation management." He added, "We will continue to demonstrate to the market that data centers can be established as stable investment assets in Korea, going beyond their traditional role as simple telecommunications infrastructure."

Park also emphasized, "The growth of the data center market is a visible future, and Koramco plans to continuously strengthen its leadership in this field through proactive investment."