Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) is reportedly close to selling a stake in its data center business.
Local press reports that the company is in the final stages of negotiations regarding the sale of a 49 percent stake in its data center unit. PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan reportedly told press that the company is “talking to the final bidder" and should finalize a deal in July.
In a separate announcement looking to play down the reports, PLDT said: “We confirm that management is exploring options to partially monetize PLDT’s data center business with proceeds from such intended for deleveraging. As stated in our clarification to news reports dated May 10, 2024, among these options is the possibility of taking in a strategic partner.”
The telco reaffirmed that "no decisions have been made at this time.”
Reports that the company was seeking to sell a stake in its data center business first surfaced in May and were later confirmed by the telco.
At the time, PLDT said the telco was considering having its data center business listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) through a real estate investment trust (REIT), and was said to be in talks to sell a stake in the asset to Japan’s NTT.
The company is seeking a valuation of more than $1 billion for its data center portfolio, but aims to retain at least 51 percent of the unit. PLDT is in talks with multiple parties, including its own shareholder - Japan’s NTT, which owns around 25 percent of the Philippine telco.
Founded in 1928 and headquartered in Makati City, PLDT owns and operates 10 data centers currently, totaling 5,600 racks and 28MW through its subsidiary ePLDT.
The telco’s data centers span Cebu, Clark, Davao, Manila, Santa Rosa, Subic, and Sucat in the Philippines. The company is developing a 12th data center, with 50MW IT capacity in Laguna; the first 10MW phase is due live over the summer. A 12th, 100MW, data center is also in the planning phase.
This is not the first time the Filipino telco has mooted disposing of its data center business. PLDT considered selling its data centers for $500 million in 2021, but the deal was put on hold. At the time, NTT backed the sale.
ePLDT, the ICT subsidiary of the PLDT group, recently established Vitro Inc. as the data center arm of the PLDT Group.
