GIC weighs selling stake in European data centre JV for up to one billion euros

[LONDON] GIC is considering a sale of its 80 per cent stake in a European data centre joint venture (JV), a potential deal that could value the business at about two billion euros (S$3 billion) including debt, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The Singapore wealth fund is working with Eastdil Secured to gauge buyer interest in the stake, which could fetch around 800 million euros to one billion euros, the sources said. The joint venture operates data centres under the xScale brand.

GIC is targeting infrastructure-focused investors and is planning to distribute marketing materials to potential suitors in the coming days, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Its JV partner Equinix, which owns the remaining 20 per cent stake, plans to stay invested, they said.

Deliberations are at an early stage and GIC could decide to keep the asset for longer, the sources said. Representatives for GIC and Equinix declined to comment. A spokesperson for Eastdil did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Equinix and GIC announced in 2019 that they had set up the xScale venture to develop and operate hyperscale data centres in Europe for users such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. BLOOMBERG