SINGAPORE—Digital Realty and Mitsubishi Corp. said Monday they had established a 50/50 joint venture to operate data centers in Japan. To be known as MC Digital Realty, the JV plans to amass a portfolio valued at 200 billion Japanese yen, or approximately US$1.8 billion, through both acquisitions and development by 2022.

The two companies have contributed seed assets valued at a combined US$350 million. Mitsubishi is contributing two seed assets in the western Tokyo suburb of Mitaka, while Digital Realty is providing its recently completed Osaka facility, its first in Japan. Digital Realty recently acquired a parcel that will support the development of up to 27 megawatts of data center capacity; the fully-leased existing Osaka facility provides 7.6 MW.

“Japan is a developed market, with a highly advanced technology sector that is expected to experience rapid growth over the next several years, yet the local data center market remains highly fragmented with a shortage of institutional quality data center capacity,” says Chris Kenney, Digital Realty's SVP, international. “We see tremendous opportunity for growth in the Asia Pacific region over the next several years, and we expect the MC Digital Realty joint venture will significantly enhance our ability to meet the growing data center demands of the Japanese market.”