Industry Mergers & Acquisitions
EQT Infrastructure confirmed to acquire EdgeConneX
After initial reports of the Swedish investment firm preparing to purchase EdgeConneX for US$2.5 billion last year, the acquisition by EQT Infrastructure is officially confirmed. The deal, which is going ahead for a currently undisclosed price, includes the acquisition of EdgeConnex’s 43 data centers across the United States, Europe, and South America, as well as the multi-building site in Santa Clara which the global colocation provider recently acquired for $83 million.
Reported agreement for SK Holdings to obtain stake in ChinData
It has been reported that the South Korean conglomerate, SK Holdings, has agreed to acquire an 8.9% stake in ChinData, the Bain Capital-backed Chinese data center provider, for US$300 million. This deal will likely play into ChinData’s earlier plans to expand in all three markets where it operates (China, India, and Southeast Asia), in which the company hopes to double their capacity from 150MW to 300MW by the end of 2020.
Centuria Industrial REIT acquires data center site from Telstra
The real estate investment trust, Centuria Industrial, has purchased Telstra’s Clayton data center site in Melbourne for US$300 million. The site, which houses two data centers, has been acquired through a ‘triple-net lease-back arrangement’ that has given Telstra a thirty-year lease with two opportunities to extend for ten years. According to the ASX Market Release, this sale allows the Australian telco to keep the IT and telecommunications equipment, and retain responsibility for ongoing facility operations.
Vantage Data Centers completes acquisition of Next Generation Data (NGD)
After agreeing to acquire the Next Generation Data (NGD) campus in Wales back in April, Vantage Data Centers has now closed the data center sale with previous owner, InfraVia Capital Partners. Vantage’s President and CEO, Sureel Choksi, told Data Center Dynamics that “Vantage Europe’s acquisition of NGD is a significant example of providing hyperscale capacity to an underserved market,” and will also see the recruitment of all former NGD staff to Vantage’s European branch, Vantage Europe.
Global Data Center Expansion
Facebook invests in constructing US$800 million data center in Tennessee
This month, Facebook officially announced its investment of US$800 million into a data center which will be built in Gallatin, Tennessee. Construction has commenced on the 800-acre plot of land which will eventually hold a near-million square foot data center. Facebook’s COO, Sheryl Sandberg says that this data center will be one of their most advanced facilities yet.
Korean government and KT Corp partnering to boost data center industry
Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development (KIND), a government agency, has recently signed an MoU with Korea’s largest telecommunications company, KT Corp, to agree to promoting the telco’s data center business and smart city projects globally. This agreement will also involve joint data center projects in which KT Corp will focus on design, management and development, while KIND will take the lead in finding new demands for data centers to help the nation’s top operator attract investments.
Zoom expands into Southeast Asia after opening data center in Singapore
This month has seen Zoom open its first Southeast Asian colocation facility located in Singapore, which constitutes the company’s eighteenth data center in which it has space. In recent months, Zoom has primarily used Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support its offerings, but the popular online communications company is now working to expand its data center portfolio. According to a statement mentioned in a Bloomberg news article, more than 400 Singaporean schools now use Zoom’s platform, with free user sign-ups having increased 65-fold in the city-state from January to April.
NextDC opens hyperscale data center in Perth
Australian data center operator, NextDC, has officially opened its first Tier IV data center in Perth, called P2. Strategically located, the facility spans 12,000 square meters and carries an IT load of 20 MW to help form the critical infrastructure platform for West Australian businesses, according to the company.As the last few months of 2020 unfold, the connectivity and colocation sectors will surely continue to see significant growth as customer demands remain. This will give service providers even more opportunities for growth and innovation, just as we’ve seen in the first eight months of the year.
