DATA CENTRE CONSTRUCTION ALREADY ADVANCED AND READY FOR COMMERCIAL OPERATION BEFORE YEAR END
SAUDI ARABIA –Quantum Switch Tamasuk (QST), the joint venture formed between Tamasuk from Saudi Arabia and Quantum Switch from the United Kingdom to design, build and operate hyperscale grade data centres across the Middle East, announces full funding for its inaugural hyperscale data centre in King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
This data centre will primarily serve a new cloud region that will allow companies and organizations in Saudi Arabia to enhance their digitalization objectives in the form of higher quality and more reliable digital services. The cloud services sector is forecasted to reach US$10 billion by 2030.
Picture: QST’s new data centre complex in SPARK is in advanced stages of construction and will be ready for commercial operations before the end of this year. When complete this data centre will provide cloud computing services to organizations in Saudi Arabia as part of the country’s ambitious digitalization agenda.
The innovative financing for the data centre in SPARK is structured and fully underwritten by Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) acting as Structuring Bank to QST. Natixis CIB has since syndicated part of the loan to Allianz Trade and Riyad Bank. The financing arrangement has been specifically developed to accommodate future data centres into the existing structure, enabling more financing institutions to participate in financing QST’s data centre portfolio. This will provide QST with reliable source of debt capital to fund its anticipated growth in the region – an existing pipeline which will require up to US$3 billion of capital in the next 4-5 years.
QST’s data centre is currently in advanced stages of construction and is expected to be ready for commercial operations in Q4 2022, about 18 months after breaking ground in SPARK. QST has also started working on a second data centre, also in Dammam which is expected to be delivered in Q2 2023.
Commenting on securing the financing, Tamasuk CEO, Matthew Nathan, said: “This transaction stands out for its innovative structure and is a strong testament to the banking sector’s appetite for growth in the digital infrastructure space in Saudi Arabia, as well as their confidence in QST as a data centre developer for international hyperscaler customers in the region. I am extremely grateful to the Natixis CIB team in the Middle East and their senior leadership for their belief and trust in QST”.
Bénédicte De Giafferri, Global Head of Real Assets Finance at Natixis CIB added: “We are delighted to have led and distributed the project financing for QST. It represents our first data centre financing in the region, a sector in which Natixis CIB has deep experience in globally. The portfolio financing structure was a perfect fit for our client’s development pipeline, and we are excited to support QST’s capital requirements in a space where we see tremendous growth potential. We are especially proud to have sourced an institutional investor financing, this area of liquidity is particularly important to us and offers both sustainability and continuity to future funding requirements for our clients”.
Tim Bawtree, CEO of Quantum Switch added: “Quantum Switch exists to blend the best in data centre design, technology, building and operations with innovative financial models and partnerships that allow us to bring new capacity on stream for our clients in new and emerging cloud regions at high speed. The SPARK facilities are proof of this concept in action”.
QST is a joint venture between Tamasuk (www.tamasuk.com.sa) and Quantum Switch (www.quantumswitch.com), a leading hyperscale data centre developer focussed on emerging markets.
Natixis CIB is one of the world leaders in Infrastructure and Energy Finance, enjoying an outstanding international and regional market recognition as demonstrated by the numerous awards received over the years (2nd Worldwide in Global Infrastructure by IJG in 2021).
The Telecom sector is one of Natixis CIB’s core areas of expertise with significant track record worldwide. Natixis CIB covers the Telecom space in all regions of the globe through 250+ M&A and Debt Advisory bankers, Industry experts and financing experts.
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