EDGNEX Data Centers by DAMAC is set to enter the U.S. data market with a bang. The digital infrastructure firm has announced that it will pour $20 billion through an initial investment with the potential for more funds in the future.
The first phase will involve EDGNEX purchasing land banks affiliated with conjunction and utilities, as well as existing data centers and platforms. Initially, it will target two data centers taking up 500 megawatts of power capacity— one in the Midwest — and the other in the Sunbelt. EDGNEX will get support from its joint ventures and partners.
Additionally, over the next four years, EDGNEX said it will target 2000MW capacity in the U.S. And over time, the Dubai-based firm noted that there is potential to double its $20 billion investment, which will be based on "future demand, market opportunity and scalability," according to a statement from the company.
The U.S. investment plan will focus on a mix of Sunbelt and Midwest states including Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. However, it did not reveal the specific regions that will be targeted under the first phase.
While data centers are a first for EDGNEX in the U.S., its parent company DAMAC Group has made real estate investments in the country. This includes plans for a boutique condo project in Miami, which is estimated to have $1 billion gross development value, and investing across U.S. real estate through multiple private equity funds.
"This is an extremely exciting moment for us. Our foray into the U.S. market in data centers represents a significant milestone in our journey to build a global digital infrastructure platform that will empower businesses today and in the future," Hussain Sajwani, founder of DAMAC, said.
"Leveraging our expertise in real estate and data centers, we aim to deliver best-in-class infrastructure that supports the next wave of cloud and AI growth, helping further to position the U.S. in the technology and global data ecosystem."
The move by DAMAC comes as Amazon's Web Services unit said it would pour a projected $11 billion into artificial intelligence infrastructure and cloud computing in Georgia to expand its data center presence. It's expected to create 550 new jobs.
Plus, other big tech companies are eyeing the U.S.'s data center market potential. Meta late in 2024, said it would build a $10 billion artificial intelligence data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana. That marks one of the state's largest-ever private investments received. Also, Oracle in 2024 said that it would pour $10 billion to expand its data center footprint.