SINGAPORE - Australian-listed property player Lendlease has announced a partnership with an institutional investor to invest US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) in data centres across the Asia-Pacific region.

The joint-venture will target completed facilities as well as new development opportunities across Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. These are the markets in which Lendlease has a significant presence.

In a media statement on Sunday (June 30), Lendlease said it will fund 20 per cent of the partnership with the remaining 80 per cent by a large institutional investor. It did not name the institutional investor.

The initial equity commitment by the parties is US$500 million, but the investment funds will come up to be US$1 billion as a result of leverage.

Lendlease's chief executive for Asia, Tony Lombardo, said: "A data centre platform is a strategic fit for the group, aligning with our targeted key trend of infrastructure, our telecommunications strategy and our integrated business model. This partnership will enable us to leverage our track record of project managing, designing and building data centres with the strong growth potential for this sector, which is evolving into a mainstream real estate asset class."

Commencement of the partnership is subject to regulatory approval.