Gds announces first ever monetization of data center assets in china through sale to a private reit

Shanghai, china, march 10, 2025 (globe newswire) -- gds holdings limited (“gds holdings”, “gds” or the “company”) (nasdaq: gds; hkex: 9698), a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in china, today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to monetize, on a net basis, a 70% equity interest in certain of its data centers, at an implied enterprise value (“ev”) to ebitda multiple of around 13 times. in a first of a kind transaction, gds is selling a 100% equity interest in certain data center project companies to a private reit (“p-reit”), which is a special purpose equity scheme involving the issue of an asset backed security (“abs”). the abs is 70% subscribed by top tier institutional investors in china, led by china life insurance company limited (“china life"), whilst gds subscribes for the remaining 30% and retains the rights for on-going operation of the underlying data centers. the abs will be listed on the shanghai stock exchange as a standardized security product. the p-reit structure is specifically designed to facilitate an eventual injection of the abs into a public reit vehicle (“c-reit”) when qualified.
GDS Ratings Summary
GDS Quant Ranking