Combination Registration No. C-2026/03/1397, Opal Bidco Pte. Ltd. (‘Opal Bidco’), Ruby Asia Holdings II Pte. Ltd. (‘Ruby’), Singtel Interactive Pte. Ltd. (‘Singtel’), One Hundred and Thirty First Investment Company – Sole Proprietorship LLC (‘MIC Entity’), Sunstone Investment Pte. Ltd. (‘GIC Entity’), and STT GDC Pte. Ltd. (‘STT GDC’)

Proposed Transaction

Opal Bidco and Ruby are KKR’s investment vehicles. Singtel is part of the Singtel group, MIC Entity is an indirect subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, and GIC Entity is part of the GIC group. STT GDC is an indirect subsidiary of Singapore Technologies Telemedia (‘STT’), and is present in India through STT Global Data Centres India Private Limited, which provides DCCS.

The proposed combination comprised two steps. Firstly, Opal Bidco would acquire STT’s 81.7% interest in STT GDC. Secondly, under a restructuring framework, certain warrants held by Singtel and Ruby would be terminated, and redeemable non-voting preference shares (held by Singtel and Ruby) would be redeemed, which would lead to STT GDC becoming Opal Bidco’s wholly owned subsidiary. As a result of the above, STT GDC would become indirectly owned by KKR, Singtel, the MIC Entity, and the GIC Entity.

CCI Findings

Horizontal Overlaps: The CCI assessed overlaps in DCCS at city level in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. The relevant acquirer affiliates included Singtel through Nxtra Data Limited (‘Nxtra’), the MIC Entity through Princeton Digital Group (‘PDG’), GIC (through one of its portfolio companies), and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited (‘Temasek’) through CapitaLand Group Pte. Ltd.

The CCI observed that market shares alone may not be representative of its competitive impact, and that a holistic assessment was required. The CCI relied on several factors including (i) the acquirers’ presence in DCCS ran through affiliates in which each held interests of varying degree: KKR, the largest shareholder in STT GDC, had no overlapping presence in DCCS in India; Singtel Parent had relinquished several key reserved rights in Nxtra; and Temasek, a seller of its entire shareholding in STT GDC, saw its indirect interest effectively diluted post the transaction; (ii) while the proposed transaction had the effect of making STT GDC a joint venture of the acquirers, the acquirers were not pooling or contributing their standalone activities; and (iii) the market was expected to grow significantly over the next three to four years, with installed capacity rising from approximately 1,500 MW to approximately 7,000 MW by FY 2029-30. The CCI noted that the common or cross-shareholdings were not likely to create an incentive for the venture partners to coordinate their actions.

Vertical Overlaps: The CCI examined plausible linkages across the DCCS value chain, including land infrastructure, power, connectivity, cloud services, sub-sea connectivity and cooling solutions. It found those linkages insignificant and unlikely to confer an ability or incentive to engage in foreclosure. The CCI left market delineation open, found no AAEC and approved the combination under Section 31(1) of the Act.