EdgeConneX, a data center operator with a dual focus on both edge and hyperscale facilities, which is backed by EQT Infrastructure, today announced that it has made a strategic investment in Chayora, a hyperscale data center operator in China, which is majority-owned by Actis. Through this investment, EdgeConneX will gain access to Chayora’s Tianjin (TJ1) and Shanghai 1 (SHA) data center campuses.
Chayora – Overview
Chayora owns hyperscale, carrier-neutral data center campuses in two of China’s largest data center markets, namely Tianjin (a city outside Beijing) and Shanghai. Specifically, the initial phase of the Tianjin campus is currently operational, while Shanghai will be a new campus and is presently under development. Collectively, at full build-out, the facilities across these two campuses can jointly scale to 200+ megawatts of IT load and 35k+ racks.
Tianjin (TJ1) – Operational
Chayora’s Tianjin (TJ1) data center campus is located 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Beijing. This campus spans 80 acres (32 hectares) and has access to 300 MVA of grid power supply through dedicated substations. In turn, this power supply supports up to 100 megawatts of IT load. Of this total, 15 megawatts of power capacity is available as of year-end 2021.
Overall, Chayora’s Tianjin (TJ1) campus can support up to 25k racks, which includes:
- Data Centers: six 3.0k-rack facilities
- High-Performance Computing Data Centers: three 1.0k-rack facilities. These data centers can support high-density requirements of up to 30kVA per rack
The three-story Tianjin (TJ1) building will span 412k sqft (38.3k sqm), with Phase 1 comprising 168k sqft (15.6k sqm) and Phase 2 encompassing 244k sqft (22.7k sqm).
Connectivity
TJ1 is carrier-neutral and offers on-site connectivity to China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and international carriers.
Energy Efficiency
TJ1 targets a power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of less than 1.2.
Shanghai 1 (SHA) – Development
Chayora’s Shanghai 1 (SHA) data center campus is located 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Shanghai Pudong central business district (CBD). The campus spans 8.5 acres (3.3 hectares) and has access to 126 MVA or 63 MVA of dual-feed gross power, which is able to provide 48+ megawatts of IT load.
Overall, Chayora’s Shanghai 1 (SHA) campus can support a total of 10k racks and will be ready for service between Q2 2022 (per EdgeConneX) and Q4 2022 (per Chayora).
In aggregate, the Shanghai campus will span 900k sqft (83.6k sqm) across three buildings.
Energy Efficiency
Shanghai 1 (SHA) targets an annualized average power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of less than 1.2.
Expansion
EdgeConneX’s capital investment in Chayora will support the company’s expansion into other major data center markets throughout mainland China. As Chayora notes, this EdgeConneX Alliance identifies new data center locations in China’s markets of Chengdu, Chongqing, Fujian, Wuhan, and Xi’an.
Financing
Chayora is backed by Actis, a growth markets investor, who has invested through its Actis Asia Real Estate Fund (AAREF). Specifically, Chayora’s funding rounds have included:
- Series B: $73m of equity from Standard Chartered Bank Principal Finance Real Estate (SCB PFRE), a unit of Standard Chartered (March 2016). In turn, SCB PFRE gained a direct equity stake of up to 19.5% in Chayora. Ultimately, Actis acquired SCB PFRE in 2018 and thus assumed the firm’s ownership position in Chayora
- Series C: up to $180m of equity from Actis-managed funds, including AAREF (October 2019). In turn, AAREF secured a majority holding in Chayora
Following EdgeConneX’s initial “strategic investment”, Actis will remain the majority shareholder in Chayora.
In addition, Chayora has secured project debt of $250m to fund the development of its hyperscale data center campuses.
EdgeConneX – Gains Data Centers in China via Chayora
EdgeConneX’s investment in Chayora builds on the company’s ongoing international footprint expansion, particularly in Asia. Presently, EdgeConneX’s current footprint consists of data centers in 50+ markets across North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. Additionally, as part of its EdgeConneX Alliance with Chayora, the company’s existing and new (future) data centers are as follows:
Interestingly, this map highlights “new” markets where EdgeConneX appears to be expanding, which include:
- North America: Arcata, California; Calgary, Canada; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; Roanoke, Virginia; Vancouver, Canada
- Europe: Barcelona, Spain; Berlin, Germany; Bordeaux, France; Brussels, Belgium; Frankfurt, Germany; Herzliya, Israel; London, UK; Lyon, France; Madrid, Spain; Petah Tikva, Israel; Stockholm, Sweden; Stuttgart, Germany; Vienna, Austria; Zürich, Switzerland
- China: Chengdu, Chongqing, Fujian, Wuhan, and Xi’an
Additionally, EdgeConneX, through a joint venture with Adani Enterprises, is developing data centers in five markets in India, namely Chennai, Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, Noida, and Vizag.
Customers
EdgeConneX’s investment in Chayora is driven by its customers desiring solutions in the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, a data center presence and team in China is important. At the same time, by partnering with Chayora, EdgeConneX will support Chinese firms that have international requirements.
Ownership
EQT, a private equity firm, through its EQT Infrastructure IV and V funds, each have an equal ownership stake in EdgeConneX.
Transaction Advisor – Chayora
Chayora’s financial advisor was Citi.
