Chinese firm GDS considers buying GLP’s data centres

Bloomberg

GDS Holdings Ltd is considering acquiring GLP Pte’s data centres business as the Chinese cloud computing company seeks to expand its digital infrastructure
capacity in the world’s second-largest economy, according to people familiar with the matter.
GDS, a developer and operator of high-performance data centers across China, is holding preliminary talks with Singapore investment manager GLP over a potential transaction that could value the assets at
$8 billion to $10 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. As part of the deal GLP would become a shareholder in Shanghai-based GDS, the people said.
Considerations are at an early stage and the companies could decide against pursuing a transaction, the people said. Details including valuation and structure of a deal could change, they said. Representatives for GDS and GLP didn’t respond to phone calls, emails and text messages requesting comment.
The prospective deal comes as digital infrastructure swells in importance to the global economy, with data centers supporting everything from the video streams that enable remote working to the online gaming and social media that fill our leisure time.
GDS, China’s largest independent data centre operator by market value, raised $1.9 billion in a Hong Kong secondary listing last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. CEO William Huang said in an interview that the company plans to use the proceeds primarily to invest in data centres in China, Hong Kong and possibly Southeast Asia.