icolo.io is a Kenyan data centre operator with active operations in Nairobi and Mombasa. The company designs, builds and operates state of the art carrier-neutral data centers to serve a broad spectrum of clients – telecom carriers, ISPs and peering points, IT and cloud providers, content providers, enterprise and financial services customers.
To boost the operations of these data centres, icolo.io has entered into a partnership with Interxion Holding N.V, a leading European provider of carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data centre services acquiring a controlling interest in Icolo.
The Netherlands based entity has also entered into a strategic partnership with the Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund (PRIF), a South Africa based fund. As part of these transactions, PRIF will invest in Icolo and will collaborate and co-invest with Interxion on expansion initiatives across the African continent. The transaction is expected to close in 1Q 2020.
Upon the closing of the transaction and taking into consideration the PRIF investment, Interxion will own approximately 70% of Icolo’s common shares with the remaining shares held by PRIF and Icolo management.
Since Interxion’s initial investment in March 2016, Icolo has delivered strong growth and has established itself as a leading African carrier and cloud-neutral data centre operator.
With two data centres in Kenya currently in operation, Icolo is experiencing strong demand from cloud and content platforms and across the enterprise segment. Acquisitions of 25,000 sqm of land for further expansion of Icolo’s data centre footprint are in progress in both Mombasa and Nairobi, with the associated total capacity for Icolo in Kenya expected to grow to approximately 20MW.
In Mombasa, Icolo is uniquely positioned to benefit from the growing number of submarine cable consortia that have expressed their intention to land in Kenya.
“We are pleased to announce this partnership with Pembani Remgro, one of the leading TMT infrastructure investment firms in Africa,” said David Ruberg, Interxion’s Chief Executive Officer. “Their deep understanding of the African communications and technology sectors is highly complementary to Interxion’s proven expertise in serving the mission-critical needs of the customers in our carrier and cloud-neutral data centres. Our ambitions in this region are substantial, reflecting the opportunity for the cloud and content platforms to bring several hundreds of millions of people online in Africa over the next decade. We look forward to working with Icolo’s founder and CEO, Ranjith Cherickel, and his team to build on the solid foundations they have created.”
The Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund is a joint initiative established by Remgro, Phuthuma Nhleko and the investment team, based in Johannesburg. The strategy of the fund is to invest equity and quasi-equity in the full spectrum of infrastructure opportunities on the African continent, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
Phuthuma Nhleko has direct interests in a variety of sectors, including the cement, mining and petroleum industries, and is the former Group CEO and Chairman of the MTN Group.
