KUALA LUMPUR: Princeton Digital Group secured a US$280mil green loan to help finance a US$1.5bil data centre it’s building in southern Malaysia, a first for the Asian infrastructure operator as it aims to get that complex operational by June.

The Warburg Pincus-backed company, which builds and operates server facilities around the region, secured the financing from Maybank, Standard Chartered Plc and United Overseas Bank Ltd.

Princeton Digital said the deal marked its first so-called green loan, a form of debt targeted at environmentally friendly projects.

From Microsoft Corp to KKR & Co, tech firms and financiers are bankrolling data centres across Asia to support an accelerating boom in artificial intelligence (AI) development and services.

They’re needed to support an estimated 25% annual increase in demand for the infrastructure that underpins cloud services and generative AI.

This month, Microsoft pledged to invest US$2.2bil in Malaysia.

 - Bloomberg