June 18 (Reuters) - A consortium of U.S. investment firm

KKR and Singapore Telecommunications will

invest S$1.75 billion ($1.3 billion) in ST Telemedia Global Data

Centres, one of Asia's biggest data centre providers, the

parties said on Tuesday.

Reuters reported in late May that the KKR-SingTel consortium

had emerged as the frontrunner to buy a minority stake worth

some $1 billion in Singapore-based ST Telemedia Global Data

Centres (STT GDC).

The deal comes amid growing interest and demand for data

centres across the Asia Pacific as countries and companies

respond to the boom in artificial intelligence.

The companies said ST Telemedia would remain the

majority shareholder in STT GDC but did not disclose the size of

the KKR-Singtel stake.

"With the industry experiencing unprecedented cloud and

AI-led growth, this strategic partnership with KKR and Singtel

will be a significant catalyst for STT GDC's next chapter of

growth as a leader in the digital infrastructure industry,"

Bruno Lopez, STT GDC's president and group CEO, said in a

statement.

The deal comprises the initial S$1.75 billion investment by

the consortium via redeemable preference shares, with detachable

warrants, according to the three parties' joint statement.

Upon exercise of the warrants in full, the consortium will

invest an additional S$1.24 billion, the statement said.

($1 = 1.3538 Singapore dollars)