Investment firms DigitalBridge Group and Japan Extensive Infrastructure, Limited (JEXI) have launched a new data center colocation provider in Japan, seeded with assets acquired from NEC earlier this year.The companies this week announced the formation by their respective affiliates of Nippon Gateway Infrastructure (NGI), a new colocation data center platform focused on serving customers in Japan.The new platform is launching with data centers acquired from NEC in the Greater Tokyo and Greater Osaka regions (Kanagawa Prefecture and Hyogo Prefecture).DigitalBridge and JEXI acquired select data center assets from NEC Corporation in March, taking over the NEC Kanagawa Data Center and NEC Kobe Data Center. NEC will remain as the anchor customer, with the facilities opened up to other colocation customers.Hiroshi Ogasawara has joined NGI as CEO. Ogasawara has previously held roles at SCSK Corporation, SCSK NEC Data Center Management, Ltd., and At Tokyo Corporation.Masato Hoshino has joined as EVP and COO. He was previously head of Asia at Colt Technology Services."The formation of NGI reflects DigitalBridge's strategy of creating and scaling digital infrastructure platforms alongside exceptional management teams and strategic partners," said Justin Chang, senior managing director and head of Asia at DigitalBridge. “With a foundational portfolio of high-quality data center assets, a highly experienced management team led by Hiroshi Ogasawara and Masato Hoshino, and a pipeline of expansion opportunities, we believe NGI is well positioned to become a leading data center platform in Japan.”DigitalBridge is a major investor in data centers, fiber, and cell towers, with some $115 billion in assets under management across more than 45 companies. Companies under DigitalBridge's ownership include Vantage, Switch, DataBank, AtlasEdge, Scala, Yondr, Digita, JTower, Zayom VerticalBridge, and others. It is in the process of being acquired by Japanese technology firm SoftBank."We are delighted to drive initiatives that meet the increasingly sophisticated demands for digital infrastructure in Japan, through the launch of NGI and our partnership with its exceptional management team," said Kenjiro Okamura, chief investment officer and representative director at JEXI.JEXI is an investment advisory company within the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, focused on domestic infrastructure. The company invests in a wide range of infrastructure areas, including digital infrastructure that “supports Japan’s growth, decarbonization initiatives, and social infrastructure that underpins sustainable regional development.”“NGI aims to become a leading enterprise-focused colocation data center platform in Japan, supporting customers' growing requirements for secure, reliable, and scalable digital infrastructure. NGI intends to pursue growth through strategic acquisitions, expansion of existing facilities, and selective greenfield developments in key markets across Japan,” said NGI CEO Ogasawara.