Keppel unit invests 14m euros in Luxembourg-based data centre developer

KEPPEL Corporation on Monday said its data centre unit has invested around 14 million euros (S$21.5 million) in Luxembourg-based Etix Group in its Series C funding.

The unit, Keppel Data Centres Holding, will hold a minority stake in the company post investment, according to a regulatory filing just before the market opened. 

Keppel Data Centres is a 70-30 joint venture between Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T) and Keppel Land, both subsidiaries of Keppel Corp.

Meanwhile, Etix is a Luxembourg-based data centre developer and provider of data centre co-location services which leverages prefabricated data centre modules for quick data centre deployment.

Etix's network spans South-east Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, comprising both edge and high-performance computing data centres. To date, the company has deployed more than 50 MW of co-location capacity through 12 data centres, with a "strong development pipeline" for expansion.

Edge data centres are facilities smaller than one MW, which are located close to end-user locations such as business parks and cities, to maximise speed of data transmission and processing.

It also has a research and development unit for its group of companies, and a portfolio with patented solutions to help partners and customers optimise energy efficiency, security and IT workloads in their data centres.

The investment is not expected to have a material impact on the net tangible assets or earnings per share of Keppel Corp for the current financial year, the group added. 

Keppel Data Centres chief executive Wong Wai Meng said the investment allows the company to tap the growing demand for edge facilities. This is while opening new possibilities for potential synergies to be explored between complementary businesses, such as tapping Etix's research technologies.

"This will give Keppel Data Centres the opportunity to deploy some of these new technologies in our data centres and deliver tangible benefits for our data centre customers," he added.

Keppel Corp shares closed at S$6.03 on Friday, down three Singapore cents or 0.5 per cent.