SHANGHAI, Sept 12 — Chinese data centre operator Zdata Technologies Co is seeking around US$500 million (RM2.1 billion) in private debt to fund a new project in Malaysia, according to people familiar with the matter.

The financing would support the buildout of a data centre in Johor, serving major clients including Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent, Bloomberg reported.

The planned loan could have a tenure of two to three years, though terms are still being discussed and may change, the sources said.

Zdata did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the fundraising plans.

The move highlights Asia’s growing data centre financing boom, driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence services and digital infrastructure.

Cushman and Wakefield estimates that the Asian data centre sector will expand by about 32 per cent annually through 2028, far outpacing projected US growth of 18 per cent.

Zdata’s Malaysian unit, Computility Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, bought 38 acres of land last year from developer Tropicana Corporation Bhd. to build the Johor facility.

Founded in 2014, Zdata is also exploring a Hong Kong initial public offering that could value the firm at more than US$5 billion while continuing its plan to build over 30 green data centres across China.