PE Firms Submit Bids to Acquire Data Center Company Global Switch

Private equity firms including EQT AB and KKR & Co. (KKR) are among bidders on a short list to buy data center company Global Switch.

Gaw Capital, PAG and Stonepeak Partners were also selected to be in the next round of bidding for Global Switch, according to traders, who cited a Bloomberg report. Some bidders may team up for an offer, the report added.

If EQT succeeds in buying Global Switch, it would be another significant addition to its data center portfolio. In August 2021, EQT Infrastructure V signed an agreement to co-invest alongside EQT Infrastructure IV in EdgeConneX. Once the transaction is complete, each fund will have an equal ownership stake in the company.

Buyouts to Strengthen DC Presence

EdgeConneX is a fast-growing data center platform focusing on demand from the cloud-, content-, and network customer ecosystem and offers a combination of hyperscale and edge data centres. Similarly, if Gaw Capital acquires Global Switch, it would mark another key investment in a data center company.

In April, through a fund under its management, has entered into various agreements with IMM Investment Corp. (“IMM Investment”), a leading Korean private equity firm, for Gaw Capital to make a strategic investment in Dreammark1 and form a mutual strategic partnership to grow Dreamline Co. (“Dreamline”).

This partnership will further expand the Dreamline telecommunications business and is the first step for Gaw Capital to tap into the Korea IDC market, it said in a statement.

Gaw Capital will continue to seek additional opportunities in South Korea, where IDC demand has been growing due to the government’s policy of moving into cloud computing, the statement added. Bloomberg first reported in late November that Equinix and buyout firms KKR and Blackstone were said to be among buyers considering bids for data center operator Global Switch.

In May Bloomberg also reported that Global Switch’s Chinese owners were poised to kick off a sale process for the data center operator. The Global Switch sale comes after KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners this year completed purchases of data center company CyrusOne for $15 billion and American Tower (AMT) acquired CoreSite in a deal valued at about $10.1 billion.