Du signs Dh800m data centre stake sale deal with Technology Holding Company

Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, or Du, as the telecoms operator is known, signed a Dh800 million agreement with the UAE's Technology Holding Company to sell its minority stake in Khazna Data Centres.

Du reached the sales and purchase agreement to sell its 26 per cent indirect stake – including its interest in shareholders loans – through its wholly owned subsidiary EITC Investment Holding, it said in a statement to the Dubai Financial Market, where its share trade.

Technology Holding, controls the remaining 74 per cent of Khazna, the only dedicated commercial wholesale data centre provider in the UAE.

Khazna currently has two facilities in the UAE – in Meydan Dubai and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi – allowing customers to gain access to an ecosystem that includes wholesale, co-location and multi-tenant data centre services. It counts Mubadala Investment Company as its majority shareholder.

Founded in 2005 as the UAE’s second licensed telecommunications provider, EITC is 50.12 per cent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 10.06 per cent by Mubadala and 19.7 per cent by Emirates International Telecommunications, with the public owning remaining shares.

“The transaction is in line with the company policy of pursuing data centre development through either full ownership or commercial partnerships and will allow it to accelerate growth in this area,” according to the bourse filing.

The deal will result in a cash flow of Dh800m, with an estimated Dh521m profit. It will reflect in du’s third quarter earnings, provided the deal is completed before September 30, the company said.