Lumina CloudInfra- Blackstone’s First Wholly-Owned Data Center Platform in Asia Launched

Lumina CloudInfra (Lumina), a data center platform owned and managed by Blackstone’s Real Estate and Tactical Opportunities funds, announced its launch. Anil Reddy, formerly Head of Global Cloud Infrastructure at Microsoft, will head the platform and serve as the Global Chief Executive Officer to lead the platform’s strategy, expansion and growth across Asia. In addition, an experienced and capable management team has been appointed by Anil and Blackstone, including Sujeet Deshpande as Chief Executive Officer of the Indian business. Sujeet joins from Colt Data Center Services where he was President and Country Head of India. The launch of Lumina reflects Blackstone’s continued focus on data infrastructure globally and commitment to deepening its presence in Asia. 

Anil Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of Lumina, said: “I am thrilled to help lead the growth of Lumina with Blackstone, centered around people and values of customer-centricity, reliability, and innovation. The data center sector is anchored by strong demand for data creation and storage around the world, particularly in India where many of the fastest-growing companies are based.”  

Lumina, with two large-scale pipeline assets in India in its portfolio, is well-positioned to benefit from India’s booming data center market, which is predicted to surpass US$10 billion by 2027. This demand is driven by India’s growing attraction as a technology and innovation hub, rapidly increasing Internet and mobile consumption, and government initiatives to transform India into a digitally-empowered economy. As the digitalization mega trend continues accelerating, Lumina will look for opportunities to expand its footprint in India and other Asian markets. 

Jasvinder Khaira, Head of Digital Infrastructure in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group, said: “The launch of Lumina showcases Blackstone’s strengths – scale, network, and sector expertise – to address India’s growing demand for mission critical data infrastructure. Growth of the public and private cloud is one of our highest conviction investment themes globally, particularly in India where many of our investments have centered around technology-enabled businesses and properties.”  

Asheesh Mohta, Head of Real Estate Acquisitions in India for Blackstone, said: “Lumina is well-positioned to benefit from India’s digital transformation, supported by the combined expertise and experience of industry veterans and our Blackstone teams on the ground. This is a unique, fully integrated platform with capabilities in development, operations, management, and leasing, and adds to our strong track record of building high-quality data center business globally and real asset portfolios of scale in India.”  

Blackstone’s current investments in digital infrastructure include QTS Realty Trust in the United States, which it bought in 2021 for approximately $10 billion in the world’s largest transaction in data center history at the time; a sizable portfolio of data centers in Japan on long-term contracts with top cloud service providers; Phoenix Towers International, a leading private cell tower platform in the Americas and Europe; and Hotwire Communications, a pioneer in fiber optic technology.  

In India, Blackstone has built real asset portfolios of scale across major asset classes including logistics, retail, and office, and world-leading businesses in major sectors such as technology and financial services.