The KKR logo on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on August 23, 2018.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
Private equity firm KKR and Singapore Telecommunications will acquire the remaining 82% stake in data center operator ST Telemedia Global Data Centers for S$6.6 billion ($5.1 billion), KKR said in a statement on Wednesday.
The deal pegs STT GDC’s enterprise value at S$13.8 billion and comes at a time when demand for data centers is surging due to the boom in artificial intelligence.
Upon completion, KKR will hold 75% of STT GDC’s shares, with Singtel holding the remaining 25%, taking into account the conversion of existing preference shares held by both investors.
KKR said the deal marks its largest infrastructure investment to date in the Asia-Pacific region, as the growing need for cloud computing and artificial intelligence workloads accelerates global investment in data centers.
Singtel shares rose almost 2% to hit a record high before the gains, and were up 0.41% in the latest session. KKR stock, which fell nearly 10% on Tuesday, rose 0.5% in after-hours trading.
Last year, global data center transaction value hit a new record, driven by a rush to build out the infrastructure needed for energy-intensive AI workloads, with S&P Global reporting more than $61 billion flowing into the data center market, up from $60.8 billion last year.
“Digital infrastructure remains one of the most attractive long-term investment themes globally,” said David Luboff, co-head of KKR Asia Pacific and head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure, citing STT GDC’s diverse footprint and development pipeline.
Citi and Bank of America were advisors to KKR and Singtel, and JP Morgan acted as sole financial advisor to ST Telemedia. The deal is the largest M&A deal in Singapore in the past four years, according to Citi data.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Singapore, STT GDC operates data centers with a design capacity of 2.3 GW across 12 markets in Asia Pacific, the UK and Europe. The company provides colocation, connectivity, and support services to hyperscalers and enterprise customers.
KKR and Singtel made their first investment in ST Telemedia Global Data Center in June 2024, taking a minority stake of S$1.75 billion.
Arthur Lang, Group Chief Financial Officer of Singtel, said: “STT GDC’s diverse geographical footprint increases our exposure to new markets and makes Singtel Group a strong data center player with global reach.”
