Orix Weighs $1.8 Billion Data Center Investment on Rising Demand

Orix Corp., the Japanese financial conglomerate that’s been snapping up assets at home and abroad, may spend at least $1.8 billion on building new data centers in the Asian nation as companies expand digital services.

The need “is growing at a very rapid pace. We are studying running data centers a business,” Chief Executive Officer Makoto Inoue said in an interview. “We are already getting inquiries from potential clients.”

When asked about the size, Inoue, 68, said Orix “needs to have at least 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion), otherwise we won’t have enough economies of scale.” The company, one of ...