US investment firm KKR and Singaporean telco SingTel are looking to acquire a stake in data center firm STT Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC).
Reuters reports a consortium of KKR and Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) is the frontrunner to buy a minority stake worth $1 billion in one of STT GDC, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
ST Telemedia, parent of STT GDC, is wholly owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings. Reports surfaced earlier this year that the data center firm was lining up a $1bn fundraise ahead of an IPO.
The two companies are reportedly competing with alternative investment firm Stonepeak for the stake of up to 20 percent.
A deal could be sealed or announced in early June. None of the companies involved provided comment to Reuters.
STT GDC is one of the largest data center operators in the world, with a portfolio of more than 170 facilities in ten countries - Singapore, the United Kingdom (through a subsidiary, Virtus), India, China (through GDS), Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
KKR owns CyrusOne alongside BlackRock-owned GIP, and is backing European operator GTR. It acquired a 20 percent stake in Singtel’s data center business for $800 million last year. It acquired liquid cooling company CoolIT alongside Mubadala last year.
The company is reportedly one of the firms interested in buying a stake in Airtel’s Nxtra data center business.
Like STT, Singtel is majority owned by Temasek Holdings, the investment arm of the Singapore government.
Stonepeak’s digital infrastructure investments include APAC operator Digital Edge, LATAM firm Cirion, and North American operators CoreSite and Cologix, as well as Guam’s GTA. It also has investments in a number of tower firms. The company was also said to interested in Airtel’s Nxtra data center business.