Digital Realty To Buy Medallion Data Centres In African Expansion
‘The expansion of our platform announced today is a leap forward but it’s just the start of our $500 million commitment to investment in the continent over the next decade,’ says Digital Realty CEO William Stein.
As Digital Realty reported third quarter sales of $1.1 billion, the data center and colocation giant unveiled plans to acquire Medallion Data Centres, one of Africa’s leading colocation and interconnection providers in a move to “tap into” the rich revenue opportunities ahead in the continent.
Digital Realty’s CEO William Stein said his company has committed $500 million to invest in Africa’s technology infrastructure over the next decade with plans to “play a central role in Africa’s growth.”
“Over the next decade, there will be huge opportunity for global businesses to tap into Africa’s expanding internet economy, with predictions that it could reach 5.2 percent of the continent’s GDP by 2025, contributing nearly $180 billion to its economy,” said Stein in a statement. “There is a huge opportunity to both meet growing customer demand for connectivity in Africa and improve the internet infrastructure that servers over 1 billion people who don’t yet have proper access to the benefits of the internet.”
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Austin, Texas-based Digital Realty will acquire Nigeria-based Medallion Data Centres, for $29 million.
Medallion operates two data centers, one in the city of Lagos and one in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja.
Medallion’s Lagos data enter is the leading connectivity hub in Western Africa with over 70 carriers and internet service providers. The site is also a peering point for all subsea cables operating in Nigeria. The acquisition is a joint venture between Digital Realty and the Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund, a Johannesburg-based IT private equity firm.
Digital Realty will be deploying its global data center PlatformDIGITAL platform in its new Nigerian data centers, with plans to deploy the platform broadly across Africa to enable multinational and local businesses to scale digital transformation initiatives.
“The expansion of our platform announced today is a leap forward but it’s just the start of our $500 million commitment to investment in the continent over the next decade,” said Stein.
Digital Realty has nearly 300 data centers across the globe in 24 countries.
On Wednesday, Digital Realty reported financial earnings results for the third quarter of 2021.
The company generated third quarter revenues of $1.1 billion, representing a 11 percent increase year over year. Digital Realty delivered net income of $137 million, compared to an overall net income loss of $1 million in third quarter 2020.
The company signed total bookings expected to generate $113 of annual rental revenue, as well as signing renewal leases representing $223 million in annual sales.
“Digital Realty’s global platform, broad product spectrum, and significant scale underpinned our strong third quarter results,“ said Stein during its financial earnings call with media and analysts. “Record new logo growth and continued strong bookings in the quarter reflect the global adoption of PlatformDIGITAL, while our robust internal processes enabled us to execute consistently for our growing list of customers.”