Investors, including Billionaire Lei Zhang’s Hillhouse Investment and Boyu Capital, have reached an agreement to purchase a 44% stake in GDS Holdings’ data center assets outside mainland China for $587 million.
Following the completion of the transaction, Shanghai-based GDS Holdings will maintain a 56% ownership in GDS International, headquartered in Singapore.
The remaining ownership will be held by investors in the series A convertible preferred shares, which include Boyu Hillhouse, Princeville Capital, Rava Partners, and Tekne Capital.
This deal, valuing GDS International at $2.3 billion, including projected debt for the year, reflects the growing demand for data centers in Asia, driven by the needs of cloud service giants like Amazon and Google.
With 330 megawatts of data center capacity operational or under construction, and an additional 340 MW reserved for future development across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, GDS International is well-positioned for expansion.
According to William Huang, chairman and CEO of GDS Holdings and chairman of GDS International, this significant capital raise marks a crucial milestone in their strategy to secure dedicated financing for their international business independently.
With leading positions in key markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore-Johor-Batam, they foresee substantial growth opportunities in these regions, as well as in new markets currently under evaluation.
GDS International has already garnered commitments and reservations from global and Chinese customers for over 200 megawatts of data center capacity, with more than 70 megawatts already generating revenue.
To date, the company has amassed over $1 billion in paid-up capital, including funds from parent company GDS Holdings and the recent influx of capital from series A investors.