Brazil clears Aligned Data Centers' acquisition of Odata

Brazil’s antitrust agency Cade approved without restrictions the acquisition of Odata by US group Aligned Data Centers.

Announced in December, the transaction will not have a negative impact on the competitive landscape as the combined participation in all segments in which the firms operate will not surpass 30%, Cade said in a statement.

In a recent interview with BNamericas, Aligned’s  CEO Andrew Schaap (pictured) said the company plans to invest US$1bn in Odata in the coming years to expand its presence in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, and eventually enter new markets.

With an estimated price-tag of 10bn reais (US$1.96bn), the acquisition was made by NK 199, an investment vehicle owned by Aligned Data Centers International.

The operation consisted of the direct acquisition of shares representing the entire capital stock of Odata by NK 199, as well as the indirect acquisition of shares representing the capital stock of Odata by Devonshire, according to the documents sent to Cade.

Devonshire is an investment company belonging to the GIC fund which, in turn, is wholly owned by Singapore’s finance ministry.

GIC has investments in several sectors in Brazil, including education, communications, hospitals, car rental, telecommunications (fixed broadband), and security systems.

As part of the deal, Aligned will be indirectly controlled by Aligned Energy, by SDC Digital Infrastructure Opportunity Fund III, and by members of Odata's management, who will have a minority stake in Aligned, according to the documents.

SDC is a US-based investment fund with a focus on digital infrastructure that has no prior investments in Brazil.

Aligned Energy is owned by funds controlled by Australia's Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, which will hold an undisclosed stake in Odata, and by Devonshire, among others. 

Combined, the Odata and GIC companies’ revenues from Brazil amounted to around 45.3bn reais in 2021.

The companies said the acquisition enables Macquarie to enter the Brazilian market for datacenter infrastructure and related services, and allows Aligned Energy (via NK 199) to meet demand in Brazil, which is “considered a growing market with demand from hyperscale customers and large cloud computing and technology companies.“

They also said the transaction is still subject to approval by the Mexican antitrust authority but made no reference to regulatory agencies in Chile and Colombia.