NextDC has reached an agreement to buy out the property trust that owns three of its data centres for $163 million.
The deal comes after Asia Pacific Data Centre (APDC) took the S1, M1 and P1 data centres off the market last month after failing to find a buyer in the past eight months.
The agreed amount is well below the $280 million that APDC and its majority shareholder 360 Capital Group asked from NextDC in February.
The total consideration is for 70.8 percent of APDC securities at $2 per share plus a dividend of $0.02 per share, giving NextDC a 96.5 percent stake in the property trust. In comparison, NextDC’s original offer to buy out the trust in July 2017 was $1.85.
By combining the $163 million for the stake with the repayment of the company's debt and restructuring costs, the buyout will cost a total of $200 million.
“[360 Capital Group] intends to accept [NextDC’s] offer in respect of all the securities in Asia Pacific Data Centre it holds in the absence of a superior proposal,” 360 Capital said in a statement.
The offer is conditional and will remain open until 26 November. NextDC said its offer is the “best and final” price and will not increase in the absence of a competing proposal.
The back-and-forth between NextDC and APDC dates back to May 2017 when 360 Capital started buying up shares of the property trust, starting with a 19.8 percent stake. The investment firm eventually ended up owning 67.3 percent of APDC as of today.
“Completing this acquisition is in line with our longer-term strategy to own more of our data centre properties,” NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie said.
“This will provide the company greater flexibility in its capital structure as the company continues to build out its significant pipeline of data centre developments.”
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