Kotak Special Situations Fund (KSSF), managed by Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (KIAL) and whose LPs include leading Sovereign Wealth Funds, and Sify Technologies Limited, India’s comprehensive ICT service & solutions provider, today announced an agreement under which KSSF will invest up to INR 1,000 crore (USD 135 million) in Sify Infinit Spaces Limited (SISL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sify. SISL is a data centre services player in India, serving Indian and Global enterprise customers and hyperscalers from its ten operational Data Centres across the country.
Under the transaction, the KSSF investment will be in the form of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures, which will convert into equity based on the operational performance of SIS over a specified reference period. The funds would be used to invest in SIS’ current plan under execution of developing new Data Centres in Mumbai, Noida, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and for investment in renewable energy requirements for its operational and new Data Centres for up to INR 4,000 crore (USD 530 million).
Raju Vegesna, chairman and managing director, Sify said, “India is set for significant economic growth and is becoming the first choice destination for both global businesses and investors. India is witnessing the rise of Information technology-driven entrepreneurship and business growth. The current capacity of the Data Centre industry in India is expanding at an unprecedented pace, powered by wider cloud adoption, 5G rollout and accelerated digital transformation programmes of enterprises.”
Srini Sriniwasan, managing director at Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd said, “We are delighted to partner with Sify to build out the Data Centre capacity in India and contribute to the goal of a digitally savvy India, based on the strength of Sify’s entrepreneurial capabilities and experienced management team. Data Centres are at the core of the country’s Digital India ambition, and we believe that with vibrant entrepreneurship in the digital space, rich media consumption by an exploding well-connected population and increasing requirements for local storage of data, India’s Data Centre sector is a long term secular opportunity.”
Kotak Investment Advisors Limited (KIAL), a part of the Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak), focuses on the Alternate Assets business. KIAL was set up in early 2005 to bring a sharper focus to Kotak’s alternate assets practice and has raised/managed/advised in aggregate over USD 4.9 billion across different asset classes including Private Equity Funds, Real Estate Funds, Infrastructure Funds, Special Situations Fund, Listed Strategies and Investment Advisory.
