Five sites change hands in Indonesia

Princeton Digital Group has signed a definitive agreement to sell five Indonesian data centers to SM+, the digital infrastructure arm of conglomerate Sinar Mas. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The facilities sit across Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, and Pekanbaru. PDG first acquired them in 2019, taking a 70 percent stake in XL Axiata's (now XLSmart) data center portfolio. That original portfolio covered five sites in Pekanbaru, Cibitung, Surabaya, Bintaro, and Bandung.

The five sites being sold today form PDG's enterprise data center business in Indonesia. Hyperscale operations remain with PDG.

What does the deal change for SM+?

The acquisition lifts SM+ from 25 sites to 31. The buyer will operate across 25 Indonesian markets once the transaction closes. SM+ currently owns and runs 25 data centers in Indonesia, totaling nearly 40MW of operational and under-development capacity. Its live "Edge" locations account for around 10MW. A larger-scale facility is also in development in Jakarta.

Herson Suindah, president director and group CEO of SM+ Holdings, framed the move as a national-scale step. "This acquisition marks an important milestone in our journey to build Indonesia's leading home-grown digital infrastructure platform," Suindah said. "By adding five facilities across Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Pekanbaru, we are expanding our nationwide footprint and strengthening our ability to serve customers as we continue supporting Indonesia's digital economy."

SM+ launched in 2023. Its parent Sinar Mas holds interests in paper, agri-business, financial services, real estate, communications, technology, energy, infrastructure, and healthcare.

What does PDG keep in Indonesia?

PDG retains a hyperscale portfolio of roughly 400MW anchored by three Jakarta-region campuses. JC2 in Cibitung delivers 22MW today. JC3 in Cikarang, now in development, will offer 120MW. The planned JC4 will offer 240MW when it lands.

The company had previously explored a site in Batam, but its current pipeline centers on the Greater Jakarta campuses.

Why the split?

"Indonesia is a key market for PDG since entering the market in 2019," said Varoon Raghavan, co-founder and COO of Princeton Digital Group. "We acquired these enterprise-grade sites as part of our 'enter-and-expand' strategy of market entry and have since developed a hyperscale data center portfolio of ~400MW in the country. Our focus will continue to be to build on that hyperscaler portfolio – which includes the JC2, JC3, and JC4 campuses, with further expansion underway – and to enhance our leadership position in Indonesia."

In short, the divestment lets PDG concentrate capital on multi-hundred-megawatt campuses while SM+ extends its reach across secondary Indonesian cities.

Who owns PDG?

PDG was founded in 2017. The company reports a total portfolio of 1.8GW across China, Singapore, India, South Korea, Malaysia, and Japan.

Private equity firm Warburg Pincus is PDG's largest shareholder. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Mubadala of the UAE, and Stonepeak also back the firm.