Oliver Jones is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Chayora, an international infrastructure investor, developer and operator of hyperscale data centre campuses in China. Chayora is focused on the largest conurbations across China – initially in Tianjin (to serve Beijing) and Shanghai. The first facility on the Tianjin campus is operational and subsequent DCs will involve over USD$1bn investment and have c.300MVA gross power with up to 25,000 racks. The Shanghai campus is just commencing in Q1 2021 with c.120MVA gross power and will have 10,000 racks available from late 2022.
Chayora enables both international and leading Chinese cloud, online and technology companies to secure the fastest, most reliable and assured route to operational digital infrastructure platforms in the vast Chinese market. Chayora has a Hong Kong HQ and is backed by international capital from private investors and the UK-based private equity firm Actis Capital LLP. Equity investment commitments of over US$200m have been secured over six funding rounds since the formation of Chayora.
Oliver originally qualified as a chartered surveyor in the UK after graduating from Kingston University in 1983. Following completion of his MBA at London Business School in 1989, Oliver established his first successful venture securing a valuable exit four years later. He has since leveraged his focus on corporate finance and the fast-growing management areas of property and business services outsourcing working with governments and industry to target and exploit business opportunities in emerging and inefficient sectors.
As an active investor and serial entrepreneur, immediately prior to Chayora, he was a partner and group board director of EC Harris LLP up to its sale to Arcadis in October 2011. His previous business ventures in the sector were each grown rapidly and also sold to acquisitive competitors: Symonds sold to Vivendi in 1993; Citex sold to Carillion in 2002 at the same time as Citex Asia was acquired by EC Harris; and NB Entrust sold to NB Real Estate and then Capita in 2009.
Today, Oliver is resident a in Hong Kong and combines his executive role in Chayora with a number of investing non-executive roles in fast growth services sectors: from language and cultural training (Babel); to M&A brokerage (Morphose), to electric car rapid charging infrastructure (Engenie/Via Novus).
