Singtel-KKR consortium to invest $1.75 billion in data centre provider ST Telemedia GDC
SINGAPORE - A Singtel-KKR consortium will be investing $1.75 billion in data centre provider ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), in a deal said to be this year’s largest digital infrastructure investment in South-east Asia so far.
The initial $1.75 billion investment by the consortium will be via redeemable preference shares with detachable warrants, KKR said on Tuesday (June 18). Upon exercise of the warrants in full, the consortium will invest an additional $1.24 billion.
Arthur Lang, Singtel’s group chief financial officer, said: “We see digital infrastructure, particularly data centres, as a growth asset and compelling investment with the remarkable rise of the sector driven by rapid digitalisation and AI adoption around the world.”
He added: “This is a solid opportunity for Singtel to gain exposure to an established platform with a footprint in high-quality data centre markets and aligns with our… strategy to further scale our digital infrastructure business in collaboration with like-minded partners.”
The consortium beat out New York alternative investment firm Stonepeak for the stake in STT GDC, which is one of Asia’s largest data centre providers.
KKR said: “The consortium was selected following an independent competitive process by ST Telemedia and STT GDC, which considered, among other things, the consortium’s collective expertise and track record, financial strength, and proposed business strategy. The proceeds of the investment will be used to further advance STT GDC’s position in the markets it operates in, and to support its continuing international expansion and growth plans through organic and inorganic strategies.”
KKR will make this investment from its Asia Pacific Infrastructure Investors II Fund.
Following the transaction, ST Telemedia continues to be the majority shareholder of STT GDC.
STT GDC has more than 95 data centres across 11 geographies and points of presence in over 20 major business markets. Its data centre portfolio has a total capacity of more than 1.7 gigawatt of IT load.
The closing of the deal is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Separately, Singtel’s regional data centre business, Nxera, will be partnering Malaysia telco TM to develop data centres, starting with a data centre campus in Johor.
“This strategic partnership aims to serve the needs of hyperscalers, next-generation AI application providers and enterprises pursuing accelerated digitalisation and cloud in the region,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Located in Iskandar Puteri, about 16km from Singapore, the data centre campus will be the largest to date for both TM and Nxera.
It will be built to the latest standards of reliability, security and sustainability while offering the best local and international connectivity.
With its close proximity to subsea cable links between Singapore and Malaysia, the data centre will be well-placed to support the increasing demand from both countries’ digitalisation and development initiatives, the JV said.
Bill Chang, chief executive officer of Nxera and Singtel’s Digital InfraCo unit, said in addition to data centres, the JV will expand the submarine cable connectivity between Singapore and Johor. Additionally, the JV will partner institutes of higher learning in Malaysia to nurture talent for the industry.
The initial phase of the data centre is planned for 64 megawatt (MW) and can be scaled up to 200 MW in response to market demand. This high-power density campus will be able to host large computing and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities such as those required by cloud hyperscalers and GPU-as-a-Service providers.
It will feature technologies such as liquid cooling to support high-power density workloads and operations efficiently.
Nxera’s total pipeline capacity is set to increase from its current operational capacity of 62 MW in Singapore to more than 200 MW in the region in the next three years. THE BUSINESS TIMES