“OCBC and its Malaysian unit, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd acted as joint coordinators for the syndicated financing, which involved a RM7.5 billion Islamic financing and a US$1.7 billion offshore term-loan facility,” the bank said.

“The proceeds will be used for both refinancing and capital expenditure of DayOne’s data centres, which are expected to obtain green digital infrastructure certification,” it said.

Malaysia is turning into a beneficiary of Asia’s growing need for data centres to support the boom in artificial intelligence.

Johor, which sits across from the city-state of Singapore, has about 30 projects completed or under construction, plus 20 more awaiting approvals.

Companies investing have included Microsoft Corp and ByteDance Ltd.

DayOne, formerly known as GDS International, is the international arm of Chinese data centre operator GDS Holdings Ltd.

The facility, which is its biggest-ever loan, would be among the largest syndicated financings for the sector by a borrower in Asia, Bloomberg News reported.