Singapore-based internet infrastructure company Princeton Digital Group (PDG) has acquired a 70% stake in Indonesian telco operator XL Axiata’s data center portfolio, according to media outlet Bisnis. The acquisition’s cost has not been made public.
XL Axiata is one of the biggest telcos in Indonesia and currently operates five data center facilities across the country.
After the acquisition, the two companies will form a joint venture named Princeton Digital Group Data Centers that has prepared USD 100 million to strengthen PDG’s strategic presence in Indonesia. It will do this by increasing the capacity and capabilities of its data center portfolio and also plans to build a new and bigger data center facility later this year.
PDG is backed by Warburg Pincus, a private equity investment firm, and has been forming partnerships and investing across China, Singapore, India, and Indonesia, according to the company’s website.
Indonesia is an important market for PDG as the country is projected to become the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia by 2025, according to a report published by Google and Singapore sovereign fund Temasek. This makes data centers vital as they are the backbone of any digital economy.
With a rapidly developing internet economy, some major international cloud providers have already stated their intentions to enter the Indonesian market.
Last year, Google said it will bring its Google Cloud Platform to Indonesia, while China’s Alibaba Cloud opened its second data center in the country in January. Moreover, Amazon Web Services also plans to build its first cloud region in Jakarta and have it up and running by the end of 2021.