A new strategic transaction has turned a major name in the data centre business into what is described as the leading data centre provider in Africa.
The major name is Digital Realty, which describes itself as the largest global provider of cloud-and-carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions.
The transaction involves the acquisition of a majority stake in Teraco, Africa's leading carrier-neutral colocation provider, from a consortium of investors, including Berkshire Partners and Permira.
The transaction values Teraco, which has seven facilities located in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, at approximately $3.5 billion.
Teraco serves over 600 customers, including more than 275 connectivity providers, over 25 cloud and content platforms and approximately 300 enterprises. Its Isando campus in Johannesburg is one of the most densely interconnected sites in the world, with over 13,000 cross-connects.
Teraco also hosts seven on-ramps to leading global cloud service providers in Johannesburg and Cape Town and currently provides direct access to seven subsea cables in Durban on the east coast of South Africa and Cape Town on the southwest coast.
The combination of Teraco's leading position in South Africa with Digital Realty's leading connectivity hubs in Nigeria on the west coast of Africa and Kenya on the east coast – along with Digital Realty's strategic Mediterranean interconnection hubs in Marseille and Athens – is expected to significantly strengthen Digital Realty's leading pan-African position. This in turn, it suggests, will enhance its ability to serve local as well as multinational enterprises and service providers.
And of course, as Digital Realty points out, the total addressable data centre market in Africa is expected to expand significantly over the coming years.
