Keppel DC Reit to acquire 2 Chinese data centres for $297.1m

The acquisition is seen to be completed from the third quarter of 2022 to 2023.

Keppel DC Reit will acquire two data centres, on a fully-fitted basis, for $297.1m (RMB1.3b), which will be located in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province in China.

According to its company announcement, Keppel DC Reit signed two agreements with Guangdong Bluesea Data Development Company Limited (Bluesea) and the latter’s parent company, Guangdong Bluesea Mobile Development Company Limited.

The acquisitions are seen to be completed in the start of the second half of 2022 and third quarter of 2023. Upon completion, the data centres will be named Guangdong DC 2 and Guangdong DC 3.

Citing an evaluation from Savills Valuation and Professional Services, market values of Guangdong DC 2 and Guangdong DC 3 are $150.2m (RMB 698m) and $148.7m (RMB691m) respectively as of 1 June 2022.

The two seven-storey data centres have a gross floor area of over 40,920 square metres and are designed to comply with the “Code for Design of Data Centre Grade A GB, where Grade A is the highest standard for data centres in China.”

Prior to these acquisitions, Keppel DC Reit already acquired its first data centre in China, the Guangdong Data Centre which was announced in July 2021.

Reacting to this, financial service provider, CGS-CIMB, said data centres will “underpin” Keppel DC Reit’s income resilience in the longer term but warned of government’s additional requirements when it comes to data centres operations.

This comes as Singapore lifted its moratorium on new data centres in 2019 but implemented measures to raise efficiency of existing data centres over time.

CGS-CIMB said data centres account for around 2% of Singapore’s greenhouse gas emissions, which matches the aviation industry. 

“This means that KDC may have to comply with additional requirements if it has not done so,” CGS-CIMB said in its report.

$1 = RMB4.82