Data Center Investment News — 04/11/2022
China Merchants racing for Chindata’s $2bn portfolio takeover
China Merchants Group Ltd. is reportedly considering the acquisition of Chinese data centre operator Chindata Group Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: CD).
The state-owned conglomerate has reached out to prospective investors including infrastructure funds about backing a deal as it composes a potential bid for the Bain Capital-backed digital infrastructure business, according to people familiar with the matter speaking in anonymity to Bloomberg.
The sources adverted that discussions are very much in early stages and a deal may not happen. Beijing-based Chindata saw shares rise as much as 10% in pre-market trading in US after the news broke. The company currently enjoys a market capitalisation of between US$1.9 billion and US$2 billion.
The Nasdaq-listed operator has previously attracted interest from other bidders including Shanghai-based competitor GDS Holdings Ltd., PAG Real Estate which recently launched FLOW Digital Infrastructure with the intention to invest as much as US$10 billion, as well as EQT-backed US hyperscaler EdgeConneX. However, both PAG and EdgeConneX are supposedly no longer in the race.
Australia’s DXN no longer selling digital infrastructure assets to PAG Real Estate
Australian digital infrastructure group DXN Limited (ASX: DXN) has told shareholders its previously announced modular manufacturing business asset sale to PAG Real Estate’s subsidiary Flow2Edge Australia Pty Ltd has been cancelled.
“In accordance with the terms of the sale agreement, FLOW has provided notice to the company that the condition precedents to completion of the sale agreement, cannot be satisfied,” the business said in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange.
It continued: “The announced transaction therefore cannot proceed in its current form and the Sale Agreement will be terminated.”
Flow2Edge Australia, part of FLOW Digital Infrastructure, was originally announced in August this year as a potential buyer of all stocks in Perth-based DXN for AU$26 million (US$18 million) in cash.
Yotta Establishes First Hyperscale Data Center In North India
Yotta Infrastructure has launched North India’s first hyper-scale data center, Yotta D1, built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore and an area of 3,00,000 square feet at the upcoming Data Centre Park in Greater Noida.
On this occasion, the Yogi Government and Hiranandani Group signed Memorandums of Understanding worth Rs 39,000 crore to be spent on projects over the next five years.
Yotta D1, the first of six data center buildings in the Greater Noida data center park, was built and operational in 20 months with an investment of approximately Rs. 1,500 crores. Yotta D1 would see an additional investment of Rs. 5,000 crores in IT equipment once it is fully operational. Yotta D1, a part of the Yotta Greater Noida Data Center Park, is strategically located near the key business hubs of India’s National Capital Region, thus providing an impetus to the region’s digital economy.
The data center area 3,00,000 sq. ft., across ground plus 7-floors and offers an IT load capacity of 28.8 MW. Yotta D1 can house 5000 racks across seven server floors and offers fail-safe, 48-hour power backup on full load.
AWS Acquires Land In Thane For Building Data Center
One of the largest outright land purchases this year, Amazon Data Services India has acquired a 60 acres parcel in Thane, near Mumbai, from real estate developer Kalpataru Group for more than Rs 1,800 crore.
Seller Ananta Landmarks, an arm of Kalpataru, said: “The deal was registered on October 21.The land parcel, located at Balkum Pada in the Majiwada area, is expected to be utilised for setting up a data center facility. This is prime land located in Thane city and surrounded by residential complexes, malls and close to Bhiwandi Road.”
Amazon Data Services had also taken on rent 4,51,037.54 square feet (sq. ft.) of office space in Thane Mumbai, at a rent of Rs 74.91 crore per year in September this year. The lease is for a period of 29 years.The monthly rent works out to be Rs 6.24 crore. The rent will increase by 3 percent every 12 months for the first 36 months, and 3.5 percent every 12 months for the last 144 months. The premises have been leased by Newfound Properties, a subsidiary of K Raheja Corp, to Amazon Data Services, in a ground-plus-7 (G+7) story building.
India’s data centre market has witnessed an investment of $14 billion in the last five years, and the cumulative funding could cross $20 billion by 2025 as investors look for assets with stable income, a recent report by CBRE titled Data Centres in India: Powering Up Real Estate in a Data-High Era has said.
AdaniConneX Chennai 1 Data Center Goes Live
In a development that further strengthens its Digital India ambitions, AdaniConneX has announced that its Chennai 1 Data Center has gone live.
In a LinkedIn post the company said: “AdaniConneX Chennai 1 Data Center is now live. Seems like yesterday we broke ground for this ground breaking innovation. It fills us with such pride and satisfaction to be a part of such a journey. A long way full of learning and development has not only made this project memorable but also a milestone.”
AdaniConneX is a 50:50 joint venture between Adani Group and EdgeConneX, established with a common goal of developing a 1 GW national data center platform to empower Digital India.
Largest CoLo in the region with a total capacity of 33 MW (IT load), the Chennai facility is one of the largest data center colocation facilities in the region. Strategically located in the SIPCOT IT Park that enables easier access with redundant power and network connectivity, the company said.
Megawide to Expand its Business by Developing Data Centers
Megawide Construction Corporation, a leading engineering and infrastructure firm in the Philippines, is eager to build a portfolio of digital infrastructure, which has been shown to be essential in maintaining business continuity.
According to Jaime Raphael Feliciano, chief business development officer at Megawide, their approach is to focus on industries they believe to be scalable, high-growth, and cycle-resistant, and digital infrastructure meets the criteria in this regard. In the future, they are eager to look into further related potential in the field of digital infrastructure.
Moreover, he added that Megawide’s intention to build data centers marks the company’s entry into the field of digital infrastructure. Their major priority at the moment is creating a seed asset that will eventually grow into a portfolio of assets.
In essence, they want a proof of concept before investing fully in the business. Due to technical improvements, they also envision a lucrative market in the area of digital infrastructure. And they think this industry has very appealing growth prospects.
CyrusOne proposes 90MW data center in Iver, outside London
CyrusOne has proposed a new data center in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, UK.
According to a filing with Buckinghamshire council this month, the ‘Iver Heath Data Park’ project would redevelop the Shannon Group headquarters, located on Dromenagh Farm on Sevenhills Road “to provide a new hyperscale data center, training center and associated infrastructure.”
The existing 5,850 sqm (7,000 sq ft) development would be redeveloped for up to 63,000 sqm (678,000 sq ft) of data center facilities in a plot of 16.59 hectares. The site will have 10 data halls supporting around 90MW of capacity. The project would include a new on-site substation.
The landowner and company behind the development have been redacted on a small number of documents, with Montagu Evans LLP acting as the agent for the project. However, a number of other design and planning documents for the project list CyrusOne as the client; further documents suggest the company has been planning the development since at least early 2021.
Teraco completes new 19MW data center in Johannesburg, South Africa
Teraco has completed a new data center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The company, recently acquired by Digital Realty, this week announced the completion of the first phase of JB4, its new hyperscale data center addition to the Bredell Campus, in the Ekurhuleni area in the east of the city.
The company broke ground on the project in November 2020. The first phase of JB4 comprises 30,000 sqm of building structure, 8,000 sqm of data hall space across eight halls, and 19MW of critical power load. Teraco said it has secured adjacent land and power for Phase 2 expansion, which will take the site to 60,000 sqm and 50MW.
“Forming a vital part of the African IT landscape, Platform Teraco is an essential part of the modern enterprise’s digital transformation strategy with its diverse industry ecosystems and open interconnection marketplace,” said Jan Hnizdo, CEO of Teraco. “Enterprises are looking for the ability to scale as network strategies evolve and, in a world where fast and secure interconnection with strategic business partners is a priority, this is a source of competitive advantage.”
Indonesia’s Telkom mulling $1bn data centre stake sale
State-owned phone carrier PT Telkom Indonesia is reportedly studying a data centre stock sale which could value the unit at US$1 billion in the event of a deal.
The group is said to have held initial talks with prospective investors with a possible outcome being the sale of a minority stake in the hosting business, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg.
Telkom has previously announced its intentions to realise an initial public offering for the data centre business in 2023. Discussions are still at an early stage, the people said.
Telkom’s president director Ririek Adriansyah told Bloomberg that the business could be valued at about 25 times Ebitda, roughly in line with the high multiples enjoyed by data centre operators in previous sales across the globe.
Macquarie Capital’s Prime Data Centers invests in Silicon Valley portfolio
Privately-held developer US data centre operator Prime Data Centers LLC has begun construction at 2175 Martin Ave in Santa Clara, the company’s second Silicon Valley location.
The future data centre, designed as a turnkey build-to-suit facility, will at full build include approximately 80,000 square feet of purpose-built data centre space and be serviced by 9MW of IT power.
The three-story campus is intended for either a single tenancy or a small number of wholesale colocation tenants in a multi-tenant configuration. Phase 1 is set for completion in the second half of 2023.
Chris Sumter, Executive Vice President of Acquisitions, Prime Data Centers, said: “This three-story data centre is strategically positioned among the headquarters of some of the biggest tech companies in the world. “Silicon Valley is one of the most critical and tightest data centre markets in the U.S., and the development and construction of Prime’s SJC03 has been highly anticipated.”
2,000-acre PW Digital Gateway project amendment given OK by Prince William officials
Prince William County officials have granted permission to rezone more than 2,000 acres in Manassas in Northern Virginia for data center use.
Officials today voted in favor of changing the comprehensive plan, known as the PW Digital Gateway, which paves the way for more than 25 million sq ft (2.3 million sqm) of data center development. The amendments provide by-right zoning for data centers on the land along Pageland Lane. Officials voted 5-2 in favor with no abstentions after more than a year of controversy and protests over the proposals.
The meeting began at 7.30pm local time, and continued until after 9 am the next day. Local news reported more than 250 registered to speak during the marathon meeting. Some 40 people spoke remotely via Internet calls, which the meeting didn’t get to until around 5 am and didn’t finish until 8 am local time.
One speaker suggested the size of the interest in the project meant discussions should have been spread over several meetings, instead of a single ‘speechathon’ that wouldn’t allow for greater discussion. He suggested county officials were ‘going through the motions’ and had already decided the outcome.
NTT latest global operator to open a data centre in Africa
NTT Ltd. has opened its first data centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, slowly bringin down the number of international operators who are yet to establish a presence on the African continent.
The Johannesburg 1 Data Center is part of NTT’s expansion into the continent with a capacity of 12MW and 6,000m² of IT space once completed.
The facility has been designed to cater to hyperscalers and enterprises and comes as Africa is experiencing a digital boom, with a population expected to double by 2050. Estimates show that 615 million users in sub-Saharan Africa will subscribe to mobile services by 2025, a 24% increase from 2020.
This growth and reliance on technology is fuelling digital transformation initiatives and demand for high-performing data centre space.
Piemonte business expands Brazil data centre footprint
Piemonte Holding-backed Elea Digital and TIM (BVMF: TIMS3) have signed a purchase and sale agreement whereby Elea is acquiring a data centre facility in Porto Alegre’s downtown, in Rio Grande do Sul.
Elea Digital said it plans to develop what it claims will become the largest data centre in the South of Brazil.
Through the transaction with TIM – that will maintain a long-term colocation contract with the newly established venture. The transaction was approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) and has been completed.
Alessandro Lombardi , CEO of Piemonte and President of Elea, said: “Today, the data centre has a space of 4,000 sqm/43,000 sq ft, with 1.2 MW of installed power and 5MW of expansion potential, in addition to being a potential landing point for submarine cables, capable of connecting Brazil to the United States, Uruguay, and Argentina.
Thor buys Coca-Cola bottling plant in Madrid for 100MW data center
Thor Equities has acquired a former Coca-Cola bottling plant in Madrid for its planned data center campus.
Swiss real estate investment advisor Stoneweg this week announced it had completed the sale of a former bottling plant of Casbega in Fuenlabrada – an industrial site in Madrid – to Thor on behalf of the Icona Capital Group.
Founded in 1986, Thor has traditionally focused on retail, residential, and industrial buildings. Its portfolio spans locations in the US, Europe, and Latin America. Thor’s new digital infrastructure unit, Thor Digital, was first announced in April 2022 with plans to develop a new hyperscale data center campus in Madrid.
Led by former Ark Data Centres’ sales & marketing director Roy Gibbens, phase one of Thor’s ‘Madrid One’ campus will offer up to 20MW of capacity, growing to more than 100MW. Thor aims to invest €600 million in the project. Timelines for the project haven’t been shared.
Stonepeak invests a further $570 million into CoreSite
Investment firm Stonepeak has upsized its investment in data center firm CoreSite by more than half a billion dollars. CoreSite was acquired by American Tower Corporation last year in a $10 billion deal. Stonepeak subsequently invested $2.5 billion into the data center firm over the summer.
This week Stonepeak announced that, on behalf of certain affiliated investment vehicles, invested an additional $570 million, taking its total stake in the company to around 36 percent.
The upsize transaction was completed on October 20, 2022 and comprises both common equity and mandatorily convertible preferred equity, on the same terms and valuation as the initial investment.
American Tower, a company traditionally focused on owning cell towers, acquired CoreSite for $10.1 billion in November 2021. The company added three previously-acquired data centers in Georgia and Florida into CoreSite’s portfolio in June. The company operates 28 facilities in 11 US markets after recently acquiring a former healthcare data center in Florida earlier this year.