SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Susan Wong, Christy Lim, Bernadette Tan and Clarence Kang, WongPartnership LLP
Development, Real Estate and Data Centre Financings The demand for real estate financing in the region remains strong, largely driven by both private equity and private credit. Notable transactions in the private equity space include the SGD1.064 billion syndicat- ed financing to “Supreme JV” for the acquisition of a USD1.2 billion portfolio of Singapore industrial assets in August 2024, the SGD1.954 billion facility to Singtel Somerset Pte. Ltd. to redevelop Singtel’s new Com- centre headquarters and Blackrock’s SGD538 million acquisitions of Singapore serviced apartments (Cita- dines Raffles Place and Momentus Serviced Resi- dences Novena in 2025 and Citadines Mount Sophia in 2024). The global surge in demand for data centres has been particularly pronounced in Asia, where demand for data centre expansion is set to grow by around 32% annually through 2028, as compared to the expected growth of 18% a year in the US. This demand has catalysed a marked increase in data centre-related transactions and related financing activity, with recent deals reflecting robust valuations. A key driver of this momentum is the increasing adop- tion of artificial intelligence (“AI”), which is set to rise further in Singapore. The government has committed over SGD1 billion over the next five years to strength- en Singapore’s AI activities and capabilities. In 2025, it announced an allocation of up to SGD150 million for the new Enterprise Compute Initiative, aimed at facilitating and accelerating AI and cloud adoption in Singapore-based companies. As AI usage expands, so does the demand for data infrastructure. Given the constraints of land and power limitations, the Johor- Singapore Special Economic Zone is well-positioned to play a complementary role. For instance, Singtel’s Nxera and Telekom Malaysia have begun developing a state-of-the-art, sustainable data centre campus in Johor, which is scheduled to commence operations in 2026. Building on these developments, the Singapore mar- ket has already witnessed several deals arising from the growing demand for data centre capacity. In June 2025, DayOne Data Centres Singapore secured a RM15 billion (SGD4.54 billion) multi-currency financ-
ing deal to support its green data centres in Johor, Malaysia and DBS and UOB jointly provided a 6.7 tril- lion rupiah-denominated (SGD530 million) loan facil- ity for the financing of a new data centre campus in Batam’s Nongsa Digital Park. This trend is expected to continue as demand for data infrastructure grows in tandem with the expansion of AI and digital services in the region. The growth in data centre financings in Singapore presents an opportunity for innovation and variations in financing models. The increased focus on sustain- ability in the development and operation of data cen- tres by regulators will also encourage the use of sus- tainability-linked loans for data centre financing. For example, Singtel’s Nxera secured a five-year SGD643 million green loan in the second quarter of 2025 to finance its new data centre in Singapore, DC Tuas. The green loan was obtained through DC Tuas’s sus- tainable design and operations plan, which achieved the Green Mark Platinum certification awarded by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority and Infocomm Media Development Authority. Islamic Financing The Islamic financing sector has experienced steady growth over the past several years and is expected to continue this upward trajectory, with total Islamic finance assets projected to surpass USD7.5 trillion by 2028. Further, Singapore continues to gain recogni- tion as an emerging global centre for Islamic banking and is well-positioned to capitalise on this momen- tum. This expansion has been fueled by the sukuk market, with global outstanding sukuk issuances recently surpassing the USD1 trillion mark. Sukuk are financial products similar to a bond, with terms and structures that comply with Shariah law. However, the proposed implementation of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions Standard 62, which proposes major reforms to the structure of sukuk, may potentially pose challenges to the current momentum in sukuk issuances. Conclusion The current US administration’s trade deals with vari- ous countries, tariffs and their fallout will remain a focal point for the market in the second half of 2025. Nonetheless, despite global uncertainty driven by US
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