GFH Capital, a subsidiary of Bahrain based GFH Financial Group, has signed for a new investment in a US Virginia-based data center with market value exceeding $100 million.
 
The investment is being undertaken in partnership with Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT), a $5 billion NYSE-listed REIT and one of the leading data center operators in the US. COPT, in addition to managing the assets, have also made a 20 per cent investment in the portfolio, which is expected to provide investors with attractive semi-annual cash distributions at an annual rate averaging 9.5 per cent over the investment period and an IRR of 12 per cent.
 
The portfolio consists of two state-of-the-art, built-to-suit data center facilities located in high technology business parks in the US state of Virginia. The investment provides GFH and its investors with exposure to the positive dynamics of the US real estate market and, in particular, increasing demand for data centers in the US led by growth in cloud services and data storage needs with Virginia serving as top data center destination.
 
Luay Ahmadi, senior executive officer of GFH Capital, said: "We are delighted to announce another key investment in the US Real Estate market building on our growing portfolio and track record of success in this market.”

“We are particularly pleased to be undertaking this investment with a world-class partner, COPT, which will ensure we maximise both returns and exit on this investment. The data center industry within the US real estate sector provides for further diversification and exposure for GFH and our investors and offers us the opportunity to leverage growth in this dynamic and fast growing technology driven segment. It is also an extension of our broader strategy to continue to acquire and bring to our investors unique and strong income yielding opportunities,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service