New digital dawn for Teraco as Digital Reality deal done and dusted
The deal negotiated between US-based Digital Reality and Teraco Data Environments for the former to acquire a majority stake in the latter, has been completed.
In April this year, ITWeb reported that South Africa’s Competition Commission (CompCom) had recommended the Competition Tribunal approve the transaction.
The report added that this was after Teraco had in January announced that Digital Titan’s parent, Digital Reality, had tabled the proposed transaction.
Africa’s carrier-neutral datacentre and interconnection solutions provider Teraco Data Environments released a statement late yesterday in which it confirmed the deal had been successfully completed.
According to the statement, Digital Realty, an established global provider of cloud and carrier-neutral datacentre, colocation and interconnection solutions, will acquire a majority interest in Teraco from a consortium of investors, including Berkshire Partners and Permira.
It reads: “As South Africa’s largest and most densely interconnected datacentre platform, Teraco supports the rapid growth of the continent’s Internet community through its expanding portfolio of datacentres. Teraco’s experienced management team, growing multi-national client base, quality infrastructure and ownership of NAPAfrica, the continent's largest Internet Exchange Point, are key differentiators that position the company for sustainable growth.”
The acquisition of Teraco adds South Africa to Digital Realty’s three markets on the continent, including Kenya, Mozambique, and Nigeria.
“The strategic importance of these four markets has been enhanced by the recent and ongoing implementation of new subsea cable networks encircling Africa. Combined with Digital Realty’s highly connected facilities, clients now have access to a choice of strategic connectivity and interconnection platforms that serve all corners of the African market,” the companies stated.
Jan Hnizdo, CEO, Teraco, said, “Teraco has made significant progress in achieving our strategic objectives, including improving the connectivity and accessibility of our datacentres, in supporting the rapid digital transformation in the region.. Africa is poised to remain a high growth, high-demand area for datacentre solutions. Our combined, diversified platform will further enable us to support our customers in the pan-Africa region and worldwide.”
A. William Stein, CEO, Digital Realty, added, "We are very excited to complete this transformative transaction that positions Digital Realty as the premier datacentre and connectivity provider on the high-growth African continent. Today’s milestone gives us significant regional scale and access to a premier, high-quality portfolio in Africa’s largest market, enhancing our ability to serve growing customer demand for connectivity in the region. We’re thrilled to strengthen our global platform and deepen our commitment to investing in Africa as we capitalise on the tremendous opportunity in the region.”
With the acquisition, Teraco will be known as Teraco: A Digital Realty Company.