ESR has appointed Dalmar Sheikh as Chief Executive Officer of ESR Data Centres, effective September 1, 2026, tapping a digital infrastructure veteran with two decades of experience at Amazon Web Services, Actis and leading Asia-Pacific data centre operator CtrlS Datacenters. Based in Singapore, Sheikh will assume responsibility for strategy, performance and growth of ESR's data centre platform, a strategic unit managing a development pipeline exceeding 3.2 gigawatts of capacity across major Asia-Pacific markets including Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The appointment reflects ESR's prioritization of digital infrastructure as a core growth vector for the Singapore-listed real asset manager, which has historically been anchored in logistics real estate. Sheikh joins directly from CtrlS, where he served as Chief Operating Officer overseeing Asia's largest Rated-4 data centre network. Prior to CtrlS, he held senior roles at DataSphere Advisory, a Blackstone portfolio company, and spent eight years with Amazon Web Services leading APAC data centre expansion strategy. His background encompasses infrastructure development, hyperscaler relationships and cross-border asset operations that ESR identified as critical capabilities for scaling its digital footprint across the region.
Sheikh's appointment signals confidence in his operational acumen and commercial relationships at a critical juncture for data centre provisioning in Asia-Pacific. His roles at AWS and Actis, the Africa and Asia-focused infrastructure investor, positioned him at the forefront of cloud infrastructure buildouts and institutional capital deployment into digital assets. ESR noted in its statement that adoption of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital technologies continue to accelerate, creating mounting demand for enterprise-grade digital infrastructure. Sheikh will lead execution of ESR's data centre strategy, advance the development pipeline, deepen customer and investor relationships, and identify new growth opportunities for the platform.
ESR is the Asia-Pacific region's leading New Economy real asset owner and manager, focused on logistics real estate, data centres and energy infrastructure. Founded in 2016 through a merger of Redwood Group and e-Shang, the company operated as a public REIT listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before going private in July 2025 at a $7.11 billion valuation. The privatization consortium included Starwood Capital Group, Sixth Street, Warburg Pincus, Qatar Investment Authority, SSW Partners and ESR founders. The company manages over $11.5 billion in assets and has raised approximately $5.4 billion in capital across funds in FY2024, demonstrating persistent institutional investor appetite for Asia-Pacific real asset exposure.
Sheikh's appointment underscores a broader industry realignment toward digital infrastructure ownership and operation. The data centre business carries distinct characteristics from logistics real estate: it requires deep vendor relationships with hyperscalers including Amazon, Meta and Google; continuous capital deployment for cutting-edge cooling and power technologies; and sophisticated lease structures pegged to cloud adoption cycles. The timing of Sheikh's arrival suggests ESR intends to accelerate commercialization of its development pipeline, particularly in Japan and South Korea, where cloud penetration and enterprise IT budgets remain robust. Whether Sheikh can rapidly scale the platform and differentiate ESR against established data centre operators such as Equinix and Digital Realty will test the company's execution capability and its ability to attract marquee tenants in competitive metropolitan markets.
