RBC manages GIC review for xScale Europe
Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC is considering options for its position in European hyperscale assets in xScale, the joint venture (JV) it has with datacentre giant Equinix [NASDAQ: EQIX], TMT Finance understands.
RBC Capital Markets has been mandated to manage the process, known as Project Lightspeed, sources said.
According to sources, the review could include GIC looking to exit the vehicle – in which it owns an 80% stake – or to sell a stake in stabilised datacentre assets in the JV.
One source stated the assets under review could have net operating income of E120m (US$128m). A separate source said teasers were circulated around the week of October 9, 2023, while another source added that NDAs are being signed.
Equinix first partnered with GIC in October 2019 to develop hyperscale facilities under the xScale label. The JV was valued at over US$1bn, Equinix stated at the time.
Equinix owns a 20% equity interest in the xScale EMEA JV company and GIC the remaining 80% through the entity Euro Heather Private Limited.
The initial six facilities in the joint venture were located in the Amsterdam, London (two sites), Frankfurt (two sites) and Paris markets, on some of Equinix's existing International Business Exchange (IBX) datacentre campuses, according to a press release at the time.
The pair have since announced further xScale partnerships, particularly in Asia.
To date, Equinix has opened 12 xScale datacentres globally, including TY12x and TY13x in Tokyo, OS2x in Osaka, Japan; SY9x in Sydney, Australia; DB5x in Dublin, Ireland; FR9x and FR11x in Frankfurt, Germany; PA8x and PA9x in Paris, France; LD11x and LD13x in London, UK; and SP5x in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The company’s hyperscale portfolio totals around 175MW, with another nine xScale builds under development totalling more than 80MW between now and 2024. In total, the company aims to develop 36 xScale facilities totalling 720MW.
GIC declined to comment, while Equinix and RBC did not respond to requests for comment.
