VNET and Dajia Investment Ink Definitive Agreement on a Pre-REITs Fund – to invest in hyperscale data centers in mainland China
BEIJING, Nov. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — VNET Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNET) (“VNET” or the “Company”), a leading carrier- and cloud-neutral internet data center services provider in China, today announced that the Company has executed a definitive agreement (the “Agreement”) with Dajia Investment Holding Company Ltd. (“Dajia”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Dajia Insurance Group under which both parties will jointly form a pre-REITs fund (the “Fund”) to invest in hyperscale data centers in mainland China. This initiative marks a significant milestone for China’s data center sector, reflecting the growing trend among domestic institutional investors to channel investments into new infrastructure projects in mainland China.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the underlying assets (the “Assets”) for the Fund’s initial investment are the first and second phases of VNET’s Taicang IDC Campus, which currently has a total IT capacity of approximately 210MW and an estimated value of RMB5.74 billion, reflecting an implied post-closing valuation of approximately 10.1x EV/EBITDA. VNET will retain a 51% equity interest in the Assets through the Fund, while Dajia will acquire and hold the remaining 49% interest. VNET will consolidate the financial results of the Fund and its underlying assets into VNET’s financial statements for financial reporting purposes and will continue to operate the Assets to ensure stable, premium IDC services for its customers.
Josh Sheng Chen, Founder, Executive Chairperson and interim Chief Executive Officer of VNET, commented,
We are thrilled to announce this transaction.
“It demonstrates our prowess in effectively managing capital and asset operating cycles, bolstering our capital sources with long-term investors while further enhancing our balance sheet efficiency. We will continue to pursue innovative financing structures and explore exits for our existing premium data centers, building a healthy, sustainable capital and asset cycle that propels our long-term growth while contributing to China’s high quality digital economy development.”
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VNET and Dajia Investment Ink Definitive Agreement on a Pre-REITs Fund – to invest in hyperscale data centers in mainland China, source
