Ayala teams up with Telemedia

MANILA, Philippines — The Ayala Group, the country’s oldest conglomerate, has strengthened its presence in the rapidly growing data center industry in the country as it closed a $350-million joint venture with Singapore’s Telemedia Global Data Centers (STT GCD).

Ayala Corp., together with its telco arm Globe Telecom, sealed the agreement last week with STT GCD, one of the world’s fastest-growing data center providers, for the construction, and operation of data center projects in the Philippines.

The investment in the data center industry will be a boost to Ayala which considers data centers as an emerging industry that is fast becoming a vital component of the development of the Philippines’ digital infrastructure.

“Ayala is well-positioned to participate in the data center industry given its unique perspective as a conglomerate, specifically on the drivers of the industry’s efficiency, including land acquisition, renewable power generation, and connectivity,” Ayala said in its disclosure.

Globe will lean on the strengths and expertise of each party, where Globe through its subsidiary, Innove Communications Inc. can provide access and expertise to local enterprises and existing hyperscaler clients on logistics of site build and management. STT GDC has deep expertise and experience in developing, owning and operating data centers globally and can provide access to a wider network of hyperscaler clients, as well as share best practices on DC design and clean energy.

In addition, Ayala said the venture would help Globe in its efforts to scale up its capacity and capabilities in the data center space and address the significant and growing demand for data center services in the country, both from local enterprises and global hyperscalers.

Under the agreement, Ayala and STT GDC shall subscribe to new shares in KarmanEdge Inc., a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Globe’s GTI Business Holdings Inc., that will house the carved-out data center business, which has the potential to expand by up to 100 MW capacity in the mid to long term.

“On March 31, Ayala Corp., Globe and STT GDC signed and executed all the definitive agreements and met all closing conditions related to the transaction,” Ayala disclosed yesterday.

Post execution of the share subscription agreement, GTI Business will remain the largest shareholder in the joint venture with a 50 percent ownership, followed by STT GDC with 40 percent and Ayala taking up the balance.