KKR Nearing $10B Buyout Deal for STT GDC as Singtel Confirms Advanced Talks

Late-stage talks for a buyout of Singapore’s ST Telemedia Global Data Centres were confirmed Sunday, with telco Singtel announcing in a statement to the SGX its participation in an investment consortium discussing the digital infrastructure firm.

Market sources familiar with the buyout talks confirmed to Mingtiandi the outline of a transaction reported earlier on Sunday by the Wall Street Journal, which indicates that KKR and Singtel are teaming up to purchase STT GDC in a deal that would value the platform at more than S$13 billion ($10.2 billion). 

Singtel made its statement in response to the Wall Street Journal account, which indicated that a deal for the data centre operator, which was first reported in mid-2025, could be imminent. In its announcement, Singtel cautioned that, “While these discussions are at an advanced stage, there is no certainty that such discussions will lead to any definitive or binding agreement.” 

Should a deal be concluded at the reported price, a buyout of STT GDC would rank as the second-largest M&A deal ever in Asia Pacific, behind only Blackstone and CPPIB’s $16.1 billion takeover of Airtrunk in 2024. 

Familiar Partners

KKR and Singapore have inside insights into STT GDC, having teamed up to acquire an 18.3 percent interest in the data centre operator in June 2024 for an investment said to be as much as $2.2 billion. STT GDC is controlled by Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings, which also owns a 51 percent stake in Singtel. 

Bloomberg reported Sunday evening that Singapore’s GIC and the UAE’s Mubadala were preparing to back the KKR-Singtel buyout as minority co-investors, but a source familiar with the deal told Mingtiandi on Monday that the sovereign giants’ participation was still “speculative”.

In a Monday research note, RHB reiterated its buy rating on Singtel and suggested that the biggest leveraged buyout in data centres since Blackstone’s $16 billion acquisition of AirTrunk in late 2024 would strengthen Singtel’s position in digital infrastructure as AI tailwinds take hold.

“We are positive on this development as it would transform Singtel into a DC powerhouse with a global footprint,” RHB analysts said.

KKR holds a 14.1 percent stake in STT GDC and Singtel has a 4.2 percent share, meaning the telecom could pay as much as S$2 billion ($1.6 billion) in the takeover based on the reported valuation and if the previous investment ratio is maintained, according to the Malaysian bank.

RHB said Singtel could fund its portion of the buyout with the proceeds from the company’s disposal of shares in India’s Airtel last November for S$1.5 billion, plus S$4.1 billion from other capital recycled during the past year.

Asian Powerhouse

Founded in 2014 and led by president and CEO Bruno Lopez, STT GDC has a presence in Singapore, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Britain, Germany and Italy, with a combined IT capacity of 2.3 gigawatts.

In February of last year, STT GDC began construction of the first data centre at the firm’s campus in the Malaysian hotspot of Johor state, with the 16-megawatt facility scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2026.

The groundbreaking came 14 months after STT GDC announced the Johor campus as the firm’s second project in Malaysia, following closely on the launch of a joint venture with local IT service provider Basis Bay to develop a 20MW complex in the Cyberjaya tech hub south of Kuala Lumpur.

STT GDC’s Southeast Asian reach includes Thailand and the Philippines, where it is developing a 124MW campus in Metro Manila with local conglomerate Ayala Corp and Ayala’s telecom unit Globe. The firm entered Indonesia in 2023 with a 72MW campus in West Java.

Last June saw STT GDC launch a Greater Tokyo hyperscale facility into service as its first Japan location, with the campus in the Inzai digital hub expected to support up to 70MW of IT capacity at full buildout.