Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi's strategic investment arm, led a funding round of more than $500 million for Pan-Asia data centre operator Princeton Digital Group as it continues to build its digital infrastructure portfolio.
The $350m equity investment by Mubadala is its first in the Singapore-based company, it said on Wednesday.
Existing PDG shareholders – Warburg Pincus, the global growth investor with $73 billion in assets, and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, which manages a portfolio of more than C$227.7bn ($178.6bn) – also invested.
“PDG is a leading data centre infrastructure platform operating in an attractive market with strong tailwinds and catering to rising demand from the hyperscale segment, and more broadly Asia’s digital economies,” said Khaled Al Qubaisi, chief executive for real estate and infrastructure investments at Mubadala.
Mubadala will work jointly with PDG’s management to accelerate its growth and create sustainable and long-term value, while supporting Asia’s digital infrastructure development as a vital enabler to economic progress, Mr Al Qubaisi said.
The rise in remote working and online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has sped up the growth of data centres around the world.
The data centre services market, which was valued at $48.9bn in 2020, is expected to grow annually at a compound rate of 13.69 per cent to reach $105.6bn by 2026, Mordor Intelligence said.
Meanwhile, spending on public cloud services is expected to surge to $692.1bn in 2025 compared to $242.6bn in 2019, Gartner projects.
Investors across the world are increasingly looking at digital infrastructure assets as part of their portfolio diversification strategies.
Mubadala, which invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, is at the heart of the emirate’s efforts to diversify its revenue base and generate income from sources other than oil.
The sovereign fund’s $243.4bn investment portfolio spans five continents. It has interests in aerospace, information and communications technology, semiconductors, metals and mining, renewable energy, oil and gas and petrochemicals.
In recent years, the fund has turned from legacy assets to digital investments, life sciences, and the health care and bio-medical sectors.
In June 2020, Mubadala invested $1.2bn in Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms to buy a 1.85 per cent stake in the company, which is controlled by India’s richest entrepreneur, Mukesh Ambani.
In 2019, it invested up to $500m in data centre company Cologix along with US investment company Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.
The fund said in December that it had agreed to divest its stake in Cologix to Stonepeak for an undisclosed sum.
PDG is a leading data centre infrastructure platform operating in an attractive market with strong tailwinds and catering to rising demand from the hyperscale segment, and more broadly Asia’s digital economies
Khaled Al Qubaisi,
Mubadala chief executive of real estate and infrastructure investments
Mubadala has taken a significant minority stake in PDG and its investment decision was driven in part by the quality of the company's management and co-investors in the deal, said Mounir Barakat, head of its digital infrastructure arm.
“With a different set of management and a different set of partners, we could have looked at it with everything [else being] the same and come up with a different conclusion.”
Established in 2017, PDG has a footprint across key Asian digital economies with a portfolio of 20 centres and more than 600MW of secured capacity across five countries.
PDG serves hyperscalers data processors, internet and cloud companies, and financial institutions.
The new funds will enable PDG to consolidate its position in Japan, India, Singapore, China and Indonesia, and quicken its expansion into other markets.
“Mubadala’s track record of long-term investments combined with extensive know-how in the digital infrastructure space makes it a great partner as we continue to scale our business,” said Rangu Salgame, chairman and chief executive of PDG.
Asia is one of the fastest growing data centre regions in the world, driven by strong market fundamentals such as a large base of internet users, the growth of digitalisation, high levels of data use and an increasing tech-savvy young population, Mubadala said.
The fund is “sitting on a portfolio of about half a dozen” digital infrastructure investments and “quite of a few of these were done in the last 12 months”, Mr Barakat said.
It is looking at more deals in its primary target markets of Canada, the US, Western Europe, the UK and South-East Asia. It is also open to sourcing deals in other markets, he said.
“We are in a sector which has significant tailwinds and every single market is underserved, so there are significant opportunities in all the markets,” Mr Barakat said.
“We are looking a number of things, but many [aspects] have to align for us to transact.”
Du Plessis plans his retirement
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Friday the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in two years' time will be his last.
Du Plessis, 34, who has led his country in two World T20 campaigns, in 2014 and 2016, is keen to play a third but will then step aside.
"The T20 World Cup in 2020 is something I'm really looking forward to. I think right now that will probably be the last tournament for me," he said in Brisbane ahead of a one-off T20 against Australia on Saturday.
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
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The squad traveling to Brazil:
Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.
THE BIO
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England squad
Joe Root (captain), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes (vice-captain), Moeen Ali, Liam Dawson, Toby Roland-Jones, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
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What is Folia?
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal's new plant-based menu will launch at Four Seasons hotels in Dubai this November. A desire to cater to people looking for clean, healthy meals beyond green salad is what inspired Prince Khaled and American celebrity chef Matthew Kenney to create Folia. The word means "from the leaves" in Latin, and the exclusive menu offers fine plant-based cuisine across Four Seasons properties in Los Angeles, Bahrain and, soon, Dubai.
Kenney specialises in vegan cuisine and is the founder of Plant Food Wine and 20 other restaurants worldwide. "I’ve always appreciated Matthew’s work," says the Saudi royal. "He has a singular culinary talent and his approach to plant-based dining is prescient and unrivalled. I was a fan of his long before we established our professional relationship."
Folia first launched at The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in July 2018. It is available at the poolside Cabana Restaurant and for in-room dining across the property, as well as in its private event space. The food is vibrant and colourful, full of fresh dishes such as the hearts of palm ceviche with California fruit, vegetables and edible flowers; green hearb tacos filled with roasted squash and king oyster barbacoa; and a savoury coconut cream pie with macadamia crust.
In March 2019, the Folia menu reached Gulf shores, as it was introduced at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, where it is served at the Bay View Lounge. Next, on Tuesday, November 1 – also known as World Vegan Day – it will come to the UAE, to the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach and the Four Seasons DIFC, both properties Prince Khaled has spent "considerable time at and love".
There are also plans to take Folia to several more locations throughout the Middle East and Europe.
While health-conscious diners will be attracted to the concept, Prince Khaled is careful to stress Folia is "not meant for a specific subset of customers. It is meant for everyone who wants a culinary experience without the negative impact that eating out so often comes with."
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Brief scores:
Toss: Australia, chose to bat
Australia: 272-9 (50 ov)
Khawaja 100, Handscomb 52; Bhuvneshwar 3-48
India: 237 (50 ov)
Rohit 56, Bhuvneshwar 46; Zampa 3-46
Player of the Match: Usman Khawaja (Australia)
Player of the Series: Usman Khawaja (Australia)
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