Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation Ltd (Keppel T&T;) has acquired, through its wholly-owned subsidiary DataOne (Asia) Pte Ltd (DataOne Asia), a 50% stake in the European data center operator, Premier Data Centres Limited (PDC). PDC was wholly-owned by Real Capital International Limited (RCI).
Keppel T&T; paid Ôé¼10.5 million to RCI in consideration of RCI assigning 50% of the loan capital (amounting to Ôé¼25.7 million) in PDC to DataOne Asia and subscribed for 500 new shares in PDC for Ôé¼1 million. In addition, DataOne Asia has granted a shareholder's loan of Ôé¼0.5 million to PDC. The purchase consideration was arrived at on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
Situated in Dublin Ireland, PDC was founded in 2002 and provides state-of-the-art data center colocation and business contingency services. Its facilities are designed to provide the highest standard of security, air handling and high density resilient power. PDC has a very strong occupancy rate with over 95% of its facility fully let on long-term multi-year colocation agreements to leading international blue chip companies in the IT and telecommunications industry including Hewlett Packard (HP) and Global Voice (GV).
Lam Kwok Chong, managing director of Keppel T&T;, said: "Besides a growing need for more data storage, businesses today place greater emphasis on data security, business continuity and disaster recovery services. We see an increasing need for high grade data centers. PDC, with its impressive track record, service offerings and customer base, is well-poised to ride on the market's growth.
Noel Meaney, founder of PDC, said: "I am delighted that we are partnering with Keppel T&T.; The combined strengths of PDC's operational expertise and Keppel T&T;'s business experience and span will provide the ideal business platform to expand and grow our data center business across Europe.