From left: Tropicana CEO Ong Chou Wen; Southern Region of Tropicana managing director Karen Lee; Johor Investment, Trade, Consumer Affairs and Human Resources Committee chairman Lee Ting Han; ZData Technologies co-founder and COO Alex Dong; and ZData legal representative Yap Han Xin
KUALA LUMPUR: Tropicana Corp Bhd
's wholly-owned subsidiary Tropicana Firstwide Sdn Bhd (TFSB) has sold 38.527 acres of freehold land for RM240mil in Gelang Patah, Johor.
The purchaser, Computility Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which is a sub-subsidiary of Beijing-headquartered cloud and IT infrastructure services firm ZData Technologies Co Ltd, plans to use the land to establish a regional data centre hub in Johor.
Tropicana's management said Johor is rapidly emerging as a pivotal digital infrastructure hub in Southeast Asia, with high-value investments in hyperscale data centres fuelling the growth of technology-related industries and economic opportunities for the local community.
it said Johor has attracted more than 50 data centres in the last two years, owing to the State’s strong push towards the digital economy, enabled by robust government policies, as well as good connectivity and infrastructure.
"With Tropicana’s strong presence and sizeable landbank in Johor, we play an effective role by offering strategic lands with good infrastructure facilities such as electricity, water and accessibility.
"The land sale also reflects our capability to meet stringent data centre land requirements backed by our development expertise and proven track record in project delivery," it said in a statement.
The land transaction, as well as a RM383mil land deal with NTT Data Group in August, also in Gelang Patah, is expected to enhance the group’s cash flow and strengthen its financial position.
Tropicana said it is looking for strategic partners to jointly develop over 728 acres of landbank in Johor.
It added that its unbilled sales stood at RM2.3bil.
