Ooredoo Picks BDx as Preferred Bidder for Indonesian Data Centers

(Bloomberg) -- PT Indosat, the Indonesian wireless carrier unit of Qatar’s Ooredoo QPSC, has picked Hong Kong-based Big Data Exchange as its preferred bidder for a majority stake in its Indonesian data centers business, according to people familiar with the matter.

BDx, as the data-center platform owned by infrastructure-focused investment firm I Squared Capital is known, has emerged as the likeliest buyer for a 75% stake in Indosat’s data center assets after beating rival bidders, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The stake could be valued between $200 million and $250 million, the people said.

Ooredoo’s Indosat, which last month agreed to combine with CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.’s local unit in a $6 billion transaction, plans to retain a minority stake in the data centers business, the people said. Indosat and BDx are poised to sign an exclusivity period to hammer out details of a deal as early as this week, the people said.

Considerations are still ongoing and talks could still fall apart, the people said. In the face of increasing demand for data-center services, Indosat is in the process of seeking “strategic partners to further strengthen its services,” a spokesman said in a text message without elaborating. 

Representatives for I Squared and Ooredoo didn’t respond to requests for comment, while BDx declined to comment.

Indosat has been considering a sale of its data centers business in Indonesia amid consolidation in the industry, Bloomberg News reported last month. The sale has drawn interest from infrastructure investors and telecommunications companies, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

BDx is a pan-Asian data center and hybrid computing solutions provider, with a presence in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Singapore, according to its website. 

In 2017, I Squared agreed to pay HK$14.5 billion ($1.9 billion) in cash to buy the fixed-line assets of billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Hong Kong telecommunications business. The assets included BDx and were owned by closely held unit Hutchison Global Communications Ltd., known as HGC.

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