Singtel shares jump on report telco, KKR near deal to buy STT Global Data Centres

Bengaluru - A KKR-led consortium is nearing a deal to buy Singapore-based ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) that would value it at more than $13 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

ST Telemedia, which is wholly owned by Singapore’s investment company Temasek, owns about 82 per cent of STT GDC while KKR already owns about 14 per cent and Singtel more than 4 per cent.

KKR is making the acquisition with Singtel, the newspaper said.

Singtel shares jumped on the report, with the counter up 10 cents or 2 per cent to $4.69 at 9.10am, with 3.6 million shares changing hands.

Bloomberg News reported on Feb 1 that GIC and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment are in talks to join KKR and Singtel in the purchase as minority co-investors.

Singtel said in a statement it continues to have talks in relation to STT GDC as part of a consortium, adding that while these discussions are at an advanced stage, there is no certainty they will lead to any definitive or binding agreement.

KKR declined to comment on the WSJ report, while STT GDC, ST Telemedia, GIC and Mubadala did not respond to requests for comment.

Reuters

reported in November that KKR and Singtel were in advanced talks

to buy more than 80 per cent of STT GDC, which would give them full ownership, for over $5 billion.

If the current transaction is successful, the deal would rank among Asia’s biggest data centre transactions, with the boom in artificial intelligence creating soaring demand for digital infrastructure.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Singapore, STT GDC describes itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing data centre providers.

It operates more than 100 data centres with over 2GW of IT load across over 20 major markets, including Singapore, India and Japan, as well as Europe via its VIRTUS brand in Britain, Germany and Italy, according to its website. REUTERS