Malaysian Tycoon Leong Kok Wah’s Eco World Shares Jump After Microsoft Data Center Deal Jonathan Burgos Shares of Eco World Development—which counts Malaysian tycoon Leong Kok Wah among its biggest shareholders—rallied after selling another plot of land to a unit of Microsoft, entrenching the Kuala Lumpur-listed developer’s with data center operators. Microsoft Payments earlier this week agreed to buy a 138.5-acre (560,489 square meters) plot at Eco World’s business park in Iskandar region in the southern Malaysian state of Johor for 694 million ringgit ($154 million). The U.S. tech giant plans to build a data center on the property as part of its $2.2 billion investment commitment to scale up its digital infrastructure in the country in the next few years. “Microsoft Payments proposed to develop data centers on the land, which would increase the attractiveness of Eco World’s business park,” Jessica Low, an analyst at MIDF Research in Kuala Lumpur, wrote in a research note on Tuesday. She upgraded her rating on the stock to buy from neutral. Eco World’s business parks have been luring tech giants, with the company raising more than 1.3 billion ringgit last year from the sale of industrial lots to data center operators. It sold 123 acres of land to Microsoft in Johor in June last year. Two months later, it sold another 57 acres to Warburg Pincus-backed Princeton Digital Group. Eco World shares gained 3.7% to 1.99 ringgit apiece in late afternoon trading in Kuala Lumpur, heading for a second day of advance. The stock has also been rising after the company took full ownership of privately held Paragon Pinnacle, developer of a mixed-use residential and commercial project and an integrated business park in Puncak Alam, Selangor, about 30 kilometers southwest of Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is at the epicenter of the data center boom in Southeast Asia, with global technology giants drawn to the country’s ample supply of affordable real estate and electricity. Besides Microsoft, several international players including Amazon, Google and Oracle are scaling up their data center operations in the country as the rapid adoption of AI and cloud computing drives demand for the digital infrastructure. Local developers such as Eco World are also cashing in on the digital infrastructure boom. Besides selling land to data center operators, Maybank expects the company to evolve as a data center building landlord, developing a new recurring revenue stream from long term lease contracts. “Eco World is actively in talks with data center players and may secure 1-2 deals at its business parks in Klang Valley and Johor,” Wong Wei Sum, an analyst at Maybank in Kuala Lumpur, wrote in a note. Eco World, which develops townships, business parks and high-rise apartments in Malaysia, also has presence in Melbourne, London, Singapore and Sydney. Leong, who has been deputy chairman of the since 2013, holds a substantial stake in the company. The self-made real estate tycoon has a net worth of $340 million, according to Forbes’ data
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Malaysian Tycoon Leong Kok Wah’s Eco World Shares Jump After Microsoft Data Center Deal
Jonathan Burgos

Shares of Eco World Development—which counts Malaysian tycoon Leong Kok Wah among its biggest shareholders—rallied after selling another plot of land to a unit of Microsoft, entrenching the Kuala Lumpur-listed developer’s with data center operators.

Microsoft Payments earlier this week agreed to buy a 138.5-acre (560,489 square meters) plot at Eco World’s business park in Iskandar region in the southern Malaysian state of Johor for 694 million ringgit ($154 million). The U.S. tech giant plans to build a data center on the property as part of its $2.2 billion investment commitment to scale up its digital infrastructure in the country in the next few years.

“Microsoft Payments proposed to develop data centers on the land, which would increase the attractiveness of Eco World’s business park,” Jessica Low, an analyst at MIDF Research in Kuala Lumpur, wrote in a research note on Tuesday. She upgraded her rating on the stock to buy from neutral.

Eco World’s business parks have been luring tech giants, with the company raising more than 1.3 billion ringgit last year from the sale of industrial lots to data center operators. It sold 123 acres of land to Microsoft in Johor in June last year. Two months later, it sold another 57 acres to Warburg Pincus-backed Princeton Digital Group.

Eco World shares gained 3.7% to 1.99 ringgit apiece in late afternoon trading in Kuala Lumpur, heading for a second day of advance. The stock has also been rising after the company took full ownership of privately held Paragon Pinnacle, developer of a mixed-use residential and commercial project and an integrated business park in Puncak Alam, Selangor, about 30 kilometers southwest of Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia is at the epicenter of the data center boom in Southeast Asia, with global technology giants drawn to the country’s ample supply of affordable real estate and electricity. Besides Microsoft, several international players including Amazon, Google and Oracle are scaling up their data center operations in the country as the rapid adoption of AI and cloud computing drives demand for the digital infrastructure.

Local developers such as Eco World are also cashing in on the digital infrastructure boom. Besides selling land to data center operators, Maybank expects the company to evolve as a data center building landlord, developing a new recurring revenue stream from long term lease contracts.

“Eco World is actively in talks with data center players and may secure 1-2 deals at its business parks in Klang Valley and Johor,” Wong Wei Sum, an analyst at Maybank in Kuala Lumpur, wrote in a note.

Eco World, which develops townships, business parks and high-rise apartments in Malaysia, also has presence in Melbourne, London, Singapore and Sydney. Leong, who has been deputy chairman of the since 2013, holds a substantial stake in the company. The self-made real estate tycoon has a net worth of $340 million, according to Forbes’ data