HERNDON, Va. & HONG KONG, China – EdgeConneX®, the pioneer in global Hyperlocal to Hyperscale Data Center Solutions, announces that it has made a strategic investment in Chayora, a leading data center provider in China. The partnership with Chayora provides EdgeConneX with data center offerings in Beijing and Shanghai, two of the largest markets in China, along with the ability to scale out Chayora’s platform to other major markets throughout mainland China. The EdgeConneX global footprint spanning 50 markets across four continents, combined with Chayora’s data center offerings in China, provides a worldwide platform for data center customers requiring either hyperlocal edge capacity that is highly proximate to their end users or hyperscale capacity built to suit customers’ unique specifications.

“Over the last ten years, EdgeConneX built out its global data center platform by working with our customers to give them the data center capacity where they want it, when they want it and at the scale they want it,” said Randy Brouckman, CEO of EdgeConneX. “As our customers look for solutions in the APAC region, it’s vital that we include a data center presence and team in China.  The investment in Chayora provides EdgeConneX customers with an ideal data center partner that can support their digital infrastructure requirements in China. At the same time, the EdgeConneX global platform can support Chinese firms that have international requirements.  It’s a win-win for customers as EdgeConneX and Chayora can provide a comprehensive data center platform domestically in China and internationally in any global market that can support a full spectrum of hyperlocal to hyperscale deployments.”

EdgeConneX’s strategic investment in Chayora marks another milestone for the company after having secured earlier funding from Actis, who will remain as the major shareholder in the company post the initial completion of the transaction.  Thomas Liu, Partner of Actis, commented: “We are delighted for Chayora to establish this strategic partnership with EdgeConneX through the investment.  As a global sustainable infrastructure investor with a long history of investing in China, we look forward to working closely with the EdgeConneX team to jointly support Chayora’s endeavor in expanding and growing its business in the China data center market.”

In a data center market that is forecast to triple in size by 2025, Chayora has an existing hyperscale, carrier-neutral data center campus serving Beijing and a new campus in Shanghai that is under development. The facilities across the two campuses can jointly scale to over 200MW IT load with access to 100% renewable energy, and Chayora also has the ability to expand into other leading Chinese markets.  Chayora holds all relevant licenses to operate and connect its data centers and provide cloud services access to 100% renewable energy.

“China represents the largest and one of the most challenging markets for global digital infrastructure users and through the team we have built in Chayora, we can address all demands, to any scale for the world’s largest data center customers,” said Oliver Jones, CEO of Chayora Holdings. “We are therefore delighted to bring EdgeConneX in alongside our existing institutional investment partner Actis as the global reach and recognition of the EdgeConneX track record and approach will help accelerate our expansion.  We are also excited by the investment deal we have agreed in terms of assured capital availability at ‘China-scale’ to suit the characteristics of our principal market. Our team’s values and those of EdgeConneX are a close fit and this will be immensely valuable as we both take a big step forward together.”

Citi acted as exclusive financial advisor to Chayora in connection with the transaction.