center3, a wholly owned subsidiary of the stc Group, agreed to acquire CMC Networks, a global service provider across Africa and the Middle East, from the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund. Financial terms were not disclosed.
CMC Networks boasts a pan-African Layer 2/Layer 3 MPLS network, with significant presence across Africa and the Middle East. It operates more than 110 service locations, servicing 51 out of 54 countries in Africa and 12 countries in the Middle East. The company also has regional hubs in key interconnected locations across Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific, enhancing its global reach.
Fahad AlHajeri, CEO at center3, said: “This acquisition is a landmark moment for center3. CMC’s enviable global footprint, high value customer base and portfolio of capabilities is very complementary to center3’s digital infrastructure and connectivity assets. This acquisition exemplifies our strategic commitment to enter key markets with significant growth potential. Our previous investment in 2Africa Cable, coupled with this acquisition, underscores our conviction in Africa’s essential role in center3’s future growth. We are excited about the possibilities that CMC Networks will bring including its wealth of knowledge, capability in the African region and promising growth in the Middle East.”
- In October 2022, Saudi Arabia’s stc Group launched Center3 Company, a new company that will be the owner of the digital infrastructure assets owned by stc Group, including data centers, submarine cables, international points of presence, and internet exchange points.
- Center3 Company aims to be the digital regional center for the Middle East and North Africa, operating a group of carrier-neutral data centers and a provider of international communication for the telecommunications sector through a submarine fiber-optic network. It aims to develop digital businesses and enhance investment opportunities in international communication services and data centers by providing the latest communication, hosting technologies and raising the capacity of data centers to meet the needs of the Asian, European, and African markets, and the rest of the world. Earlier this year, center3 completed a 9.6MW expansion of its hyperscaler-grade data center Khurais in Riyadh. The state-of-the-art facility is built to meet global hyperscalers requirements. This expansion follows center3’s plan to build new data centers across Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, and other strategic locations in the Kingdom to address its customers’ requirements for high availability, disaster recovery, and scalability. The new facilities will feature operational standards that support service-level agreements and key performance indicators aligned with best-in-class international standards.