Companies & Markets

Keppel DC Reit to acquire second data centre in London for £57m

Tan Nai Lun

Published Mon, Dec 27, 2021 · 08:17 AM

KEPPEL DC Reit AJBU : AJBU 0% is acquiring a data centre in Bracknell, the United Kingdom, which is part of the Greater London urban area, for £57 million (S$105.5 million).

The property, which will be named "London Data Centre", is the real estate investment trust's (Reit) second acquisition of a data centre in Greater London, and its third in the UK, its manager said on Monday (Dec 27).

The Reit's manager expects the acquisition will be accretive to the Reit's distribution per unit, although it did not specify by how much. It, however, noted that the property will increase the weighted average lease expiry of the Reit's portfolio lease profile to 8.1 years from 7.1 years.

Bracknell is a commercial centre in the Thames Valley, a region known as the Silicon Valley of the UK due to its large concentration of multinational technology companies and conglomerates, the manager said.

The acquisition, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, will be funded by proceeds from the Reit's recent placement and external financing. Post completion, Keppel DC Reit's aggregate leverage is expected to increase to 38.2 per cent from 36.4 per cent, as at Sep 30, 2021.

London Data Centre is currently fully leased to a telco company until 2039. It sits on a 4.7 acre (1.9 hectare) plot of freehold land and has a gross floor space of 94,867 square feet, and consists of 3 interlinked 2-storey buildings that house data centre space along with ancillary office space.