Yondr Group, Everstone ink $1 bn joint venture for data centre foray

Private equity firm Everstone Group and global data centre major Yondr Group have set up a $1 billion (Rs 7,445 crore) joint venture to operate data centres in India, the firms said on Tuesday.

The joint venture has acquired land for its first data centre project in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region which will operate as EverYondr, the firms said.

The first facility will deliver 30 megawatt by 2023 and 60 MW of IT capacity when fully developed. 

 “EverYondr’s  early acquisition of its first campus in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region  reinforces  our  commitment  to the  region.  Unlike other  mature  hyperscale  markets, data centres  in  India require a proactive approach to development  and a  streamlined delivery  process,” Dave Newitt,  CEO  at  Yondr  Group, said.

The  joint  venture, with an initial capitalisation of $1 billion, will support  hyperscale clients and service the  rapidly  growing  Indian  market,  projected  to  exceed $4.5  billion by 2025, the companies said. 

 “To meet the accelerated pace of cloud adoption, hyperscale companies are increasingly looking to credible partners  to help realise their  expansion  needs,” Sameer  Sain,  cofounder  and chief  executive  officer  of  Everstone  Group, said. 

The investment  will be used  to  fund  the development and operation  of multi locational hyperscale data centre  business  across  important  geographies in  India, including but  not  restricted to  the regions of  Mumbai  Metropolitan  Region,  Hyderabad, Bengaluru,  Chennai  and  National  Capital  Region  (Delhi).  

Starting with the Mumbai  Metropolitan  Region,  the venture  will  deliver a portfolio of facilities at hyperscale. 

With hyperscale technology, companies can scale demand as required.

Yondr, a privately owned data centre developer with hyperscale capacity, has presence  in Europe, Asia, America and the Asia Pacific region.

NTT-Netmagic, Reliance, NextGen HDCC, Net4 are among the biggest owners of data centres.  Real estate developer Embassy Group said it was eyeing data centres in 2019.  

In the pandemic, the shift to digital has increased demand for data centres, with multiple investors picking up stakes in the facilities. Brookfield set up a joint venture for data centres earlier this month.