DigitalBridge and Equinix are the final two companies bidding for the data center business of Malaysian telco Time Dotcom.
Bloomberg reports the two companies have been shortlisted for the final round of talks for the Time’s Aims Data Centre unit.
The two companies are seeking to sign a deal for the assets, known as Aims Data Centre, within the next few weeks, according to unnamed sources. Time Dotcom may retain a stake in the business, but no final decisions have been made and a deal could face delays or even fall apart.
None of the above companies would comment to the publication.
Backed by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd., Time Dotcom offers communications services. Bloomberg first reported the company was mulling a potential sale of Aims DC in March 2022.
Tower Capital Asia, KKR, DigitalBridge, I Squared Capital-owned BDx, Stonepeak-backed Digital Edge, Temasek Holdings’ STT GDC, and Equinix Inc. were all cited as potential bidders in the company, which could be valued at around $600 million.
Aims DC offers colocation, managed services, and disaster recovery offerings from three data centers in Malaysia – one in Kuala Lumpur and two in Cyberjaya – as well as one in Bangkok, Thailand. On its website, the company lists plans for three more facilities in Vietnam.
In January, Aims acquired a 13-story office building in Kuala Lumpur. Time didn’t detail its plans for the building, completed in 1992, beyond saying it plans to expand its operational facilities.
Following rumors about a potential sale in April 2021, DigitalBridge acquired PCCW’s data center unit in July, comprising facilities across Hong Kong, mainland China, and Malaysia. The unit was rolled into DigitalBridge-owned Vantage as its APAC business.
Equinix owns a number of facilities across APAC including in Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Since 2020 it has acquired bare metal startup Packet, GPX India, Maine One, and Entel’s Chilean & Peruvian data centers.