KKR, Singtel and Tata Communications put data centre company STT GDC India up for sale at over $5.5 billion

Mumbai: Private equity group KKR, Singtel and Tata Group, the key shareholders of STT Global Data Centres India Private Ltd (STT GDC India) are initiating plans to sell their local operations – among the top 3 co-location providers – to unlock value, said people in the know. This will be the first time such a large portfolio is up for grabs in India to capitalise on the global deals rush as hyper scalers and data centre infrastructure providers are frenetically building capacity.

STT GDC, currently has 34 data centres spread across 10 centres in the country with a total capacity of 613 MW.

Also read: Tata Communications to invest $450 million in 10,000 km AI fibre network


The potential multi-billion transaction is part of a dual track initiative to find ways to rebalance capital requirements as well as help Tatas streamline their data centre (DC) plans. The sale process for which advisors have been brought on board will tap global players either present or planning an Indian entry, deep pocket Indian conglomerates who have announced mega investments in the space and financial sponsors like infrastructure focussed funds and buyout private equity investors. The shareholders had in parallel kickstarted evaluating an Indian IPO for the business at a $6-$7 billion around July and had appointed advisors to help them in the process.

Pricey Assets, Premium for Scale

Data centres in Asia Pacific have been valued at 18-20 times their contracted EBITDA while sources said transactions like Blackstone and CPPIB’s $16 billion acquisition of Australia’s AirTrunk in September 2024 had valued the target at 22-23x its contracted EBITDA. STT GDC too is expecting similar multiples for its business. It expects at least $5 billion, a slight discount to its IPO value.

KKR, STT GDC India declined to comment. Mails to Singtel, Tata Communications did not generate a response.

In February of this year, the KKR and Singtel consortium announced a $5.2 billion cash buyout to take full control of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) at an implied enterprise value of $10.2 billion based on the price the companies are paying for the 82% stake they do not already own. KKR currently owns 75% of STT GDC with Singtel owning the rest.

Their Indian arm is a 74:26% joint venture of STT Telemedia and Tata Communications. The salt-to-software conglomerate has already decided to pursue its data centre plans with TPG and group flagship TCS joining hands to launch an independent platform. Tata Communications was among the early movers in Indian Inc to gauge the potential of data centre bets.

Back in 2016, Singapore-headquartered STT made its Indian foray by buying a controlling 74% stake in Tata Communications’ Indian data centre business, while Tatas retained 26%. At that time, the business was valued at Rs 3,140 crore. The acquisition covered 14 data centres, which accounted for roughly 28.5% share of the Indian data centre market. Tata Communications invested an additional Rs 319.4 crore in STT during FY26 to retaining its 26% stake. In September 2024, it announced a Rs 26,000-crore investment commitment in September 2024 to add 550 Megawatts over 5-6 years. At that time, STT said it held about 28% of India’s data centre market by revenue and had a portfolio of 28 facilities.

Hyperscalers account for approximately 75% of its revenues today, with contracts typically running for 7-15 years. The management had estimated a capex outlay of Rs. 6,000 - 6,100 crore during FY2026-FY2027, which were to be funded by debt and internal accruals or equity infusion. The company has reported consistent revenue growth in the last five years, with operating revenue witnessing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15% between FY21-FY25.

As of FY26, STT’s India business reported revenue from operations of Rs 2,747.5 crore, up 17.8% from Rs 2,331.8 crore a year earlier, according to disclosures from Tata Communications’ annual report. Profit declined 22.9% to Rs 126 crore from Rs 163.5 crore. Net assets rose 30.7% to Rs 5,760.5 crore from Rs 4,406.2 crore. However, sources said that with a significant ramp-up in the last year, the company’s contracted EBITDA would be much higher.

Beyond India, STT Group has a significant presence across Asia and Europe and runs over 100 data centres with a cumulative capacity of over 2 GW. Since the end of 2025, operational capacity has increased by 25% to 780MW. In addition, contracted capacity has grown by 50%, reflecting continued demand from hyperscalers, cloud service providers, AI customers and enterprises across its markets. Their customer base is spread across different verticals, cloud service providers, digital media and content, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), telcos, among others with top 10 customers contributing ~76% of the revenue.

“With mega expansions in Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, and Europe lined up, the investment pipeline for STT has gone up substantially. So, they are planning to balance their global capital requirement by trying to monetize part of this mega portfolio,” said a senior data centre executive familiar with the company’s operations. “On the other hand, big groups like Reliance, Bharti, and Adani have all announced significant investments and ramp-ups in India, as have many of the stand-alone players like NTT, CtrlS etc. So, they may choose to buy and get scale. Beyond a few global players, the data centre industry is fragmented and therefore open to consolidation.”

India contributes 20% of global data while accounting for only 3% of global DC capacity.

The Gold Rush

In the next two years, DC capacity in India is expected to increase from 1.26 gigawatt (GW) to over 2 GW by 2027, requiring large-scale capital expenditure. Total investment in the industry is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2027, as per CBRE Group Inc. Companies including Google and OpenAI have outlined expansion plans in the country, while Reliance Industries alone has announced a $30 billion data centre project.

Also read: Jio’s connectivity push gathers pace, 5G base hits 300 million and broadband homes 30 million

However, recent peer transactions indicate that investors are attaching premiums to India’s data centre companies. However, volatility in global AI infrastructure markets and rising financing costs have made IPO pricing less certain. Sify Infinit Spaces’ proposed IPO is facing a valuation gap. ET reported in September that Sify was seeking Rs 40,000 crore, while prospective investors had not moved beyond Rs 22,000-25,000 crore since April, potentially pushing the offering into 2027. Sify reported FY26 revenue of Rs 1,761 crore and EBITDA of Rs 793 crore. Meanwhile, reports suggest that planned listings of an AirTrunk REIT, Firmus and SB Energy had been pulled or paused as investors scrutinised valuations, debt and the returns expected from infrastructure spending.