UAE-based telco e& announced on Wednesday that it is exiting Khazna Data Centres – its joint venture with AI and cloud firm Group 42 – and will sell its 40% stake to G42 for US$2.2 billion.
In a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, e& said the sale would generate a capital profit of US$1.4 billion (before taxes and royalties), which would go toward paying down its debt.
E& also said the decision to quit Khazna was part of its “asset monetisation” strategy that would enable it to focus on core businesses.
E& and G42 struck a deal in 2021 to merge their data centre businesses to form Khazna Data Centres. The merger was finalised a year later, making it the largest data centre provider in the UAE at the time with around 300MW of capacity. G42 took a 60% stake in Khazna, while e& held the remainder.
E& said it would continue to work with Khazna as both a strategic partner and a major tenant.
The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end the first quarter of 2025. At that point, MGX and Silver Lake will become minority shareholders in Khazna, according to a separate statement from G42.
