A Pakistani textiles company is pivoting to develop data centers.
Chakwal Spinning Mills Limited this week posted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange saying it was making the change.
“Management has signed the term sheet for investment of Rs 7.784 billion ($28 million) with PNO Capital Limited for the launch of data center and cloud operations in Pakistan,” read the notice.
Rs 500 million will be allocated as equity, including Rs 400 million ($1.4m) from the sponsors. The remaining Rs 7.3 billion will be provided through convertible bonds.
Chakwal has appointed Optimus Capital Management (Private) Limited as its financial advisor to oversee the investment process.
PNO Capital is an investment firm based in Pakistan. Its other investments include a karting circuit and a bus operator. The company previously invested in a solar farm.
Textiles firm Chakwal Group was founded in 1974. Chakwal Spinning Mills is traditionally a yarn manufacturing company.
In January, Chakwal Spinning Mills announced a MoU to merge with an unnamed local technology company that reportedly has a presence in the USA, UAE, Philippines, and China. The company then announced plans to change its name to Quantum Cloud & AI Technologies Limited.
Any details of planned data centers have not been shared.
According to Data Center Map, Pakistan currently has 22 data centers split between three markets: Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. Operators include PTCL, Multinet, Chapal, Supernet, Cybernet, and Vision Telecom among others. In June 2023, the University of Turbat in Pakistan launched a new data center. The first phase of completion coincided with the deployment of a 1MW solar project at the university.
Earlier this month, Pakistani oil company Mari Petroleum Company Limited announced the formation of a subsidiary focusing on cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). Further details weren’t shared.
