Data center real estate investment trust CyrusOne will make a $100 million equity investment in GDS, and form a new strategic partnership with the Chinese data center developer and operator.

The transaction will see CyrusOne purchase newly issued unregistered ordinary shares equivalent to 8 million American depository shares at a 4 percent discount, giving the company an 8 percent stake in GDS.

Collective will

GDS
GDS’ Shanghai Waigaoqiao Data Center – GDS

“We are delighted to welcome CyrusOne as our strategic investor and to execute this commercial agreement,”  William Huang, chairman and CEO of GDS Holdings, said.

“Our customer base includes the largest hyperscale companies in China, and this investment is a meaningful source of capital to fund development for our growing pipeline of demand… This partnership will help us get access to their large customer base and enhance our sales to their US-based customers who have operations in, or would like to expand to China.”

Gary Wojtaszek, president and CEO of CyrusOne, added: “This strategic partnership provides a compelling value proposition for both companies’ customer bases as the enhanced collective capabilities of CyrusOne and GDS will enable them to meet their data center resource needs in the world’s two largest centers of economic activity.

“We are excited about our investment in GDS and this partnership between two of the fastest-growing data center companies and recognized leaders in serving the hyperscale and enterprise markets in the United States and China.”

GDS, which counts STT GDC as one of its largest shareholders, is currently building its fifth data center in Singapore and is set to acquire a data center in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.