360 Capital seeks buyout of Australia data center business

360 has indicated that it could pay A$1.80 per share for the REIT, according to a filing on July 20, valuing it at A$207 million ($164 million) and representing a premium to the previous day’s closing price of A$1.78. Following the announcement, APDC’s stock climbed as high as A$1.85; as of late morning on July 24 it was trading around A$1.83.

360’s proposal is backed by additional unnamed investors. The firm currently holds a 20% stake in APDC through its 360 Capital Diversified Property Fund and has been seeking to have the REIT’s management replaced by that of its subsidiary 360 Capital FM. Initially, 360’s buyout proposal was conditional on the management change, but it has since dropped this requirement. In addition, the firm has set no minimum acceptance condition on its bid.

APDC manages data centers in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth that house the storage operations of data center operator NextDC, which owns a 16.6% stake in the REIT. Its co-founder Robin Khuda previously worked at NextDC before leaving to launch Singapore-based data center provider AirTrunk in 2014.

In a separate filing, APDC said it has not received any proposal from 360 that is capable of consideration, and criticized the firm for announcing its proposal while also seeking to have its management team replace that of APDC, a move that would effectively allow 360 to respond to its own takeover bid. APDC’s board recommended that shareholders vote against the management change.

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• Topics
• Australasia
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• Infrastructure
• Buyouts
• Australia
• buyout