Digital Realty to acquire Teraco

Based in Johannesburg and established in 2008, Teraco is Africa’s largest data centre services provider. The company offers vendor-neutral colocation and other related services in secure and resilient data centres. The company operates seven high-quality facilities with 75 megawatts of critical power load, serving more than 600 clients, including global Internet companies, across six core ecosystems – connectivity providers, managed service providers, cloud, content, enterprise and financial services. With more than 22,000 interconnects, Teraco’s data centres are the most interconnected facilities in Africa, allowing clients to connect directly to each other, to the onramps of all major cloud providers, as well as to the continent’s largest and fastest-growing Internet Exchange Point, NAPAfrica.

The Digital Realty transaction will result in a powerful combination providing Teraco continued access to capital to grow. The Teraco and NAPAfrica brands, which have a global reputation for exceptional service, quality, and client focus, will continue. Being backed by a global leader will enable Teraco to access skills and knowledge from the Digital Realty global platform and continue to grow the Teraco ecosystem.

“We are excited to enter our next chapter by joining forces with Digital Realty to create a truly global, scaled platform serving our customers in Africa and beyond,” said Teraco Chief Executive Officer Jan Hnizdo. “Our combined platform will be uniquely positioned to serve the full customer spectrum with the ability to support their growth around the world.  We look forward to working with the Digital Realty team to extend our state-of-the-art data centre and connectivity solutions to capitalise on the favourable industry trends and tremendous market opportunity.”

Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein added, “This highly strategic transaction immediately cements Digital Realty as the leading colocation provider in Africa, a region experiencing rapid digital transformation. Teraco is the industry leader in South Africa and the continent’s connectivity hub.  This investment will enhance our ability to serve customers on a global basis by adding significant regional scale with a premier, network-dense portfolio in South Africa’s most strategically important metro areas.  Teraco will also advance our strategy of increasing exposure to highly connected, network- and carrier-dense facilities to enhance our global coverage and connectivity capabilities.” 

The Teraco management team will remain in place and maintain day-to-day responsibility for operations in South Africa.  The Teraco management team is led by Chief Executive Officer Jan Hnizdo, a long-time team member who has helped drive Teraco’s significant growth over the last decade.  Hnizdo is supported by an experienced and highly qualified local management team with over 100 years of combined experience.  In addition, Teraco’s existing investors, including several leading global digital infrastructure investors with significant experience investing in Africa, are rolling forward a significant portion of their equity interests, demonstrating their conviction in Teraco’s future growth prospects.  The continuing involvement of management and the existing investors is consistent with Digital Realty’s new market entry strategy of partnering with strong local management teams and experienced regional capital partners. 

After closing, Digital Realty will own approximately 55% of the total equity interests in Teraco, while the remaining 45% will be held by a consortium of existing shareholders, including management, Berkshire Partners LLC, Permira, van Rooyen Group, Columbia Capital, Stepstone Ventures and the Teraco Connect Trust. 

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions.  Goldman Sachs is acting as financial advisor to Teraco and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and ENSafrica are serving as legal advisors to Teraco.  Solomon Partners is acting as financial advisors, and Latham & Watkins LLP and Bowmans are acting as legal advisors to Digital Realty.