Data centre services provider, Web Werks on Thursday said it has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) with Iron Mountain under which the US-based company will invest $150 million (around Rs 1,086 crore). The investment allows Web Werks to grow in its existing markets of Delhi NCR, Pune and Mumbai as well as expand into Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Data storage management firm, Iron Mountain said it expects to invest the amount over the next two years and anticipates being the majority investor in the venture after the investment period. The first phase of the transaction is expected to close within the next 90 days subject to customary closing conditions.
“Iron Mountain data centres is making this investment to support its existing hyperscale, network, content and enterprise customers looking to expand and scale in the rapidly growing pan-India region,” it added.
Web Werks operates three tier-3, carrier-neutral data centres with a combined footprint capability of 2.25 lakh sq ft. It also provides access to a neutral interconnection ecosystem of carrier, content and cloud providers including over 160 Internet Service Providers (ISP) and 6 Internet Exchanges. Web Werks supports a broad base of well-known brands including enterprises, BFSI, and SMEs.
“This investment enables Web Werks to expand its operations in its three existing markets immediately and expand into Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. Web Werks houses six worldwide Points of Presence (POPs), provides 4 megawatts (MW) of existing capacity, supports over 6,000 servers and supports 850 clients,” Web Werks said.
While Iron Mountain data centre customers get access to three rapidly growing Indian markets, including the second most active peering location in Mumbai, it added.
Iron Mountain Data Centres executive VP & general manager, Mark Kidd said, “This investment reflects Iron Mountain’s commitment to invest in high growth, good return global markets to continue to meet our customers’ requirements. The India data centre market is projected to grow rapidly in the coming years and we are excited to be an early mover into a market where the demand is high and the supply is low”.
Iron Mountain Data Centres general manager (Asia Pacific), Michael Goh said, “India provides an important next step in expanding our Asia Pacific footprint”.
Web Werks CEO Nikhil Rathi, said “Joining forces with the Iron Mountain Data Centre team will further solidify Web Werk’s leadership position in pan-India region and among the broader set of global customers. The JV will position Web Werks among the select few data centre operators with assets across all major cities and have both HyperScale and dense Interconnection expertise”.
According to JLL, India’s co-location data centre market size is expected to grow from 375 MW in H1 2020 to 1,078 MW by 2025, registering a CAGR of 21%. According to the December 2020, global data centre co-location & interconnection report by Structure Research (SR), the Asia Pacific region will account for half of the global colocation market by 2025 driven by large emerging markets like India.
The SR report also recognises Mumbai and Pune as key opportunity markets in India with combined projected MW of built-out critical IT load capacity growth to reach over 470 MW by 2025.
Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and PwC India acted as advisors to Iron Mountain on this transaction, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) acted as an introducing partner to both parties. Deutsche Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor to Web Werks on the fundraise, Khaitan & Co and Ernst & Young acted as exclusive advisors to Web Werks.