Globe seals joint venture deal for data centers around Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Globe Telecom Inc. inked a joint venture partnership with its parent Ayala Corp. and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) to mark the the telco giant's entry into the data center space.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, Globe said STT GDC and Ayala will subscribe to new shares in the telco firm's subsidiary KarmanEdge Inc., which will house the data center business.

Globe will remain the largest shareholder in the joint venture owning 50% of the shares while Singapore-based STT GDC will have a 40% stake. The remaining shares will go to Ayala.

"This venture is poised to be a significant player in this space for years to come," Ernest Cu, company president and CEO, said.

Globe's foray into the Philippine data center scene could prove to be a boon. According to a report from Research and Markets, this space will welcome $535 million in investments by 2026, and will enjoy a compounded annual growth rate of 11.4% from 2021 to 2026 around the country.

Once completed, the telco will bag a post-money valuation of about $350 million and rake in $100 million in process, wherein the excess will be infused for expansion in the future. Globe will also recognize a pre-tax gain of around P10.5 billion which will come from “partial monetization of its current data center business coupled with the revaluation of the carrying value of Globe’s retained interest.”

According to Globe, 43% of STT GDC's data centers are powered by renewable energy sources.

As of 11:51 a.m. Monday, shares in Globe were down 2%.