Gamuda, IJM, Sunway seen as top bidders for RM10bil Selangor data centre contracts

New Straits Times

5 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: Gamuda Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, and Sunway Construction Group Bhd have emerged as leading contenders for four upcoming data centre projects in Selangor worth a combined RM10 billion.
Eco World Development Group Bhd and Sime Darby Property Bhd have each tendered out two data centre contracts. Eco World's projects, totalling 360 MW, are set in Eco Business Park V, Puncak Alam, while Sime Darby Property's 160 MW facilities will be located in Elmina Business Park, Sungai Buloh.
Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) said each data centre job – valued at RM1 billion to RM2 billion – has attracted five to six bidders.
"Despite the prospect of the United States restricting the shipment of AI chips to Malaysia, we understand that Eco World, Sime Darby Property and Pearl Computing will award four data centre jobs totalling about 500MW over the next two months.
"We estimate that they will yield about RM10 billion of jobs and believe that they will be awarded to more than one winner," Maybank IB said.
It said that Gamuda, IJM, and Sunway are seen as strong candidates, thanks to their industrialised building system (IBS) capabilities, which support faster construction using precast panels.
Maybank IB added that all three hope to win at least one data centre job from the four tenders, which could add to their job win target this year. Gamuda is targeting RM20–25 billion in job wins for FY2026, IJM RM6–8 billion, and Sunway RM4.5–6 billion.
Gamuda is seen as the frontrunner, given its strong IBS capabilities, followed by IJM with its large-scale IBS manufacturing capacity. Sunway ranks third, constrained by smaller IBS output but standing out for its track record and scale in data centre construction.
"In our view, Sunway is handicapped relative to Gamuda and IJM due to its relatively smaller IBS manufacturing capacity. This is probably why Sunway is bidding for only three of the four data centre job tenders.
"We also believe it is under pressure to secure at least one data centre job win from Pearl Computing, as we understand that most of its data centre jobs thus far have been for co-location data centres which lease space, power, and cooling for their servers and networking equipment to, ostensibly, Chinese clients and are thus the main targets of the potential restriction in the shipment of AI chips to Malaysia."
Despite that, Sunway leads in experience. As of May 31, 2025, data centres account for 51 per cent of its RM7.9 billion order book and 54 per cent of its RM3.5 billion in year-to-date job wins. It has completed 84 MW in data centres and is building another 170 MW – more than Gamuda or IJM.
"We understand that the latest data centre job awarded to it of RM1.2 billion in May 2025 is from a Magnificent Seven company (Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tesla), which testifies to its growing recognition within the data centre construction space," Maybank IB said.
IJM, meanwhile, is completing three data centres in Johor, which Maybank IB said could have strengthened its Selangor bids had they been completed earlier. Still, its strong IBS facility remains a key advantage.
That said, Maybank Ib believes that its well-regarded IBS facility gives it a large advantage, especially over Sunway, whose IBS facilities are a lot smaller.
"All four data centres will be leased to Pearl Computing, which we understand is backed by an American search engine giant, which is probably why they do not fear the potential restriction in the shipment of AI chips to Malaysia," Maybank IB said.
Pearl Computing already has a presence in Malaysia. In May 2024, it awarded Gamuda an RM815 million contract for core and shell works and another RM928.6 million for MEP works at a data centre in Elmina Business Park (80 MW total capacity).
"We understand that the capacity of data centre 1 is 80 MW. Thus, the total job wins above of RM1.74 billion translates into a benchmark of RM22 million per megawatt," Maybank IB said.
Based on a conservative RM20 million/MW benchmark and the 500 MW combined capacity of the upcoming projects, Maybank IB estimates RM10 billion worth of contracts will be awarded – RM5 billion for core and shell (to be awarded by Eco World and Sime Darby Property) and RM5 billion for MEP works (to be awarded by Pearl Computing).
Assuming a 10 per cent pre-tax margin, the industry could potentially generate RM1 billion in pre-tax profits from these jobs, with results expected in the next two months, Maybank IB said.