Freshfields advises KKR-led consortium with Singtel on its S$1.75bn investment into ST Telemedia Global Data Centres

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has advised a KKR-led consortium of KKR (on behalf of funds managed by it) and Singtel (together the ‘Consortium’) on its S$1.75bn (approx. US$1.3bn) investment in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (‘STT GDC’).

This transaction marks the largest digital infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia to date in 2024.

The transaction comprises an initial S$1.75bn (approx. US$1.3bn) investment by the Consortium via Redeemable Preference Shares (RPS), with detachable warrants. Upon exercise of the warrants in full, the Consortium will invest an additional S$1.24bn (approx. US$920m). The investment would translate to a minority stake of 18.3 per cent.

Headquartered in Singapore, STT GDC is one of the world’s fastest-growing data centre providers with more than 95 data centres across 11 geographies and points of presence in over 20 major business markets. It provides critical services including high-quality colocation, connectivity, and round-the-clock support services.

The Freshfields team advising on the transaction was led by partner Nigel Gleeson and senior associate Alice Boughton, with partner Simon Weller, counsel Daniel Boyle and associates Shavonne Oh and Apoorv Chaturvedi (all Singapore). Securities law advice was provided by partner Arun Balasubramanian. IP/IT advice was provided by partner Richard Bird and associate Harshavardhan Ganesan. Finance advice was provided by senior associate Natalie Ong. Projects advice was provided by senior associate Anthony Ong. English law advice on corporate, IP, projects/infrastructure and real estate aspects was provided by partners Victoria Hills and Douglas Bryden and associates Charlotte Aspin, Chris James, Emilia Farley and Vanessa Jiang. German law advice on projects/infrastructure and real estate aspects was provided by partner Niko Schultz-Suechting and associate Carolin Langlitz.