GDS Announces the Final Offering Price for its C-REIT Initial Public Offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange

Core Viewpoint - GDS Holdings Limited has successfully priced its China REIT (C-REIT) IPO at RMB 3.00 per unit, with significant oversubscription and substantial gross proceeds expected from the offering [1][2]. Group 1: IPO Details - The C-REIT's final offering price was determined after an institutional bookbuilding process that was 166 times oversubscribed [1]. - A total of 800,000,000 units will be issued, resulting in gross proceeds of RMB 2,400 million [1]. Group 2: Financial Metrics - At the final offering price, the implied EV/EBITDA is 16.9 times based on projected EBITDA for 2026 of RMB 141.8 million [2]. - The implied dividend yield per unit is 5.2% based on projected cash flow available for distribution for 2026 of RMB 124.8 million [2]. Group 3: Transaction and Cash Flow - GDS will sell a 100% equity interest in a project company holding stabilized data center assets for an enterprise value of approximately RMB 2,319 million [3]. - Upon completion of the sale, GDS will receive net cash proceeds of approximately RMB 2,111 million and de-consolidate about RMB 62 million of net debt [3]. - GDS plans to reinvest RMB 480 million to acquire 20% of the units issued by the C-REIT in the IPO [3]. Group 4: Operational Agreement - GDS will continue to manage the underlying data center assets under a services agreement, earning approximately RMB 5 million in recurring annual fee income [4]. Group 5: Company Overview - GDS Holdings Limited is a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China, strategically located in major economic hubs [5]. - The company offers a range of services including co-location, managed hybrid cloud services, and has a diverse customer base including hyperscale cloud service providers and large corporations [5].