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The deal sees KT’s Asia Pacific reach expanded significantly, gaining communications and technology hubs in 41 cities, including in mainland China
Today, South Korea’s KT Corp has announced that it will purchase Epsilon Global Communications for $145 million.
Epsilon is a global connectivity provider, with 260 points of presence in 41 cities across 20 countries, notably including in mainland China. In addition, the company also operates data centres in London, New York, and Singapore.
The company provides a suite of solutions including cloud, ethernet, SD-WAN, colocation and voice services, and operates its own network-as-a-service platform called Infiny.
For KT, the acquisition seems a good fit, expanding their international footprint beyond Asia and melding their telecom expertise with Epsilon’s international networking prowess.
“Epsilon provides mission-critical networking for global digital transformation and maximising the value of cloud for enterprise customers. It has a tremendous mix of technology, teams and innovation that are directly aligned with KT’s vision for enabling enterprises with digital platforms,” said Dr Hyeonmo Ku, CEO at KT Corp. “Epsilon provides great value with its Infiny platform and global network, which offers customers an agile approach to global networking. Both companies share a vision for global digital transformation and the power that digital platforms have to change industries.”
KT acquired the company in partnership with investment firm Daishin Private Equity. KT will reportedly hold a 58% stake in the business, while Daishin will take the remaining 42%.
KT has been gradually expanding its global data business of late and this purchase of Epsilon could serve as a solid foundation for further M&A in this space. In a company statement, KT said Epsilon could serve as a “core platform for its ‘bolt-on strategy’ to expand its global data business”.
“Until now, there have been many inconveniences for domestic companies that have entered overseas to use data connection services between their headquarters and overseas branches,” explained KT’s CEO Koo Koo. “Through this, we will contribute to improving the global competitiveness of Korean companies and increase KT’s corporate value by leaping into Asia’s best DIGICO company that produces practical results in the global data market.”
In the same statement, the company said the global data market was worth 72 trillion won (around $62 billion) in 2020, with estimates that this will increase to 100 trillion won (around $86 billion) by 2025.
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