Jeon Yong-su (left), head of Daewoo Engineering & Construction's architectural business division, and Kim Ji-wook, CEO of Kinx, pose for a photo after signing the MOU. [Daewoo Engineering & Construction]
Jeon Yong-su (left), head of Daewoo Engineering & Construction's architectural business division, and Kim Ji-wook, CEO of Kinx, pose for a photo after signing the MOU. [Daewoo Engineering & Construction]

Daewoo Engineering & Construction is positioning itself as an integrated data center developer, covering development, construction and operations.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction announced Friday that it signed a data center development project MOU with Kinx, a specialist in internet infrastructure and data center operations, on Thursday. The signing ceremony was attended by Jeon Yong-su, head of Daewoo Engineering & Construction's architectural business division, Senior Managing Director Lee Sang-won, members of the data center task force, as well as Kinx CEO Kim Ji-wook and Senior Managing Director Choi Jong-ok, among other key representatives from both companies.

The agreement was designed to combine Daewoo Engineering & Construction's data center development and construction capabilities with Kinx's operational expertise and network competitiveness — built through facilities in Gwacheon, Dogok and elsewhere — to maximize synergies between the two companies. Under the MOU, the two sides will pursue the identification of hyperscale and AI data center development projects, the establishment of an integrated development-construction-operations cooperation model and the securing of a development partnership from the earliest stages of each project. Both companies also plan to actively expand mutual participation opportunities in data center projects they jointly pursue or review.

Through the agreement, Daewoo Engineering & Construction gains a specialist operator as a proactive partner, significantly strengthening the competitiveness and stability of projects it pursues going forward. The company also expects to secure preferential construction rights on new projects jointly pursued or reviewed with Kinx. For its part, Kinx now has a proven development and construction partner, enabling it to steadily expand its supply of new data centers and consolidate the foundation for business growth.

Daewoo Engineering & Construction has been diversifying its architectural business portfolio beyond its core residential segment and expanding its order pipeline. In preparation for the AI era, the company established a dedicated data center task force to increase the share of non-residential projects, and has been actively transforming itself into a full-fledged developer encompassing development, investment and operations — moving well beyond simple construction contracting.

In line with that strategy, the company broadened its business scope by joining the Empirion Digital AI Campus, the first new data center project in the Gangnam area in a decade, and by participating in the Jangseong Pine Data Center — South Jeolla Province's first such facility — as both an investor and contractor. Earlier this year, it also signed a cooperation agreement with South Jeolla Province to build an AI data center cluster, signaling a full-scale push into the data center market.

Going forward, Daewoo Engineering & Construction plans to expand into a comprehensive integrated developer covering every stage of the data center business — from site acquisition and development through construction and operations to eventual divestiture. The company aims to secure strong profitability while accumulating advanced developer expertise in the process.

Meanwhile, Daewoo Engineering & Construction is also accelerating its transformation into a global developer, pursuing expansion across three strategic markets: the United States, Southeast Asia and Africa.


lucky@heraldcorp.com