Singapore-based data center firm Digital Edge has taken a majority stake in Indonesian telco PT Indointernet (aka Indonet).
Digital Edge, which is backed by the Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners private equity firm, invested $165 million in the telco, making it the single largest shareholder. It is the company’s first move into Indonesia, having previously acquired facilities in Japan and South Korea.
“This strategic partnership enables Digital Edge to meet the pressing needs of new customers wanting to deploy into Indonesia, and also to offer Indonesian firms a strong regional platform to expand outside of the country,” said Samuel Lee, CEO of Digital Edge.
“Pak Toto and the Indonet team have done a fantastic job in building a diverse and innovative business. With our good standing relationship with Pak Toto and his team, Indonet is a natural fit for Digital Edge and we are extremely pleased with this partnership.”
Indonet owns self-built fiber assets in the Jakarta metro area and offers connectivity, cloud access, and colocation services. Through one of its subsidiaries, the company recently commissioned the EDGE1 data center with 1,500 cabinets at Jalan Kuningan Barat, Jakarta.
“Together with Digital Edge, Indonet is best placed to capitalize on the market growth of Indonesia. In fact, we are already looking at the next round of expansion projects,” said Toto Sugiri, founder and chairman of Indonet.
Digital Edge was founded in August 2020, with CEO Lee previously serving as president of Equinix’s Asia Pacific business. The company is developing a 12MW facility in central Osaka scheduled to open in Q1 2022 and has a stake in ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation’s Mejirozaka Data Center in Tokyo. In April the company acquired Sejong Telecom’s data center assets in Seoul and Busan, South Korea, and in May it acquired a further two data centers in Tokyo from Japanese telco Arteria Networks Corporation.
“With its full suite of telecom licenses, extensive dark fiber assets, network services and central location of its EDGE1 data center, Indonet will enable Digital Edge to develop sophisticated solutions for its interconnect-focused customers,” added Andy Rigoli, chief operations officer of Digital Edge.
Rigoli also said that a relaxing of foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications industry means Indonet is well-positioned to become the service provider of choice for foreign telcos looking to expand their regional and global footprints into Indonesia.
A number of international companies including Alibaba, Tencent, STT, Microsoft, and AWS are all developing cloud regions in Indonesia, while local providers such as DC Indonesia are also expanding their domestic footprints.
