AetherGrid Digital Infrastructure – Business Plan
Investment-grade business plan for AetherGrid Digital Infrastructure Holdings (Pty) Ltd — an R22.5-billion capital programme (2026–2036) to develop four hyperscale and carrier-neutral data centre campuses across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban toward 155 MW of critical IT load, anchored by long-dated hyperscale and enterprise contracts, scaling to R11.2 billion of Year-10 revenue at a 58% EBITDA margin and roughly 3,500 direct jobs, delivering an independently derived 30.7% project IRR and an approximately 28% equity IRR at a conservative 13× EBITDA exit.
Confidential Information Memorandum & Funding Proposal
AetherGrid Digital Infrastructure
A hyperscale and carrier-neutral data centre platform for South Africa — developing four carrier-neutral campuses across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban toward 155 MW of critical IT load, anchored by long-dated hyperscale and enterprise contracts — structured as an R22.5-billion capital programme (2026–2036) for sponsor equity, infrastructure funds, development-finance institutions and senior lenders.
South Africa is the gateway data centre market for the continent, and demand is scaling faster than supply — cloud on-ramps and hyperscale workloads are anchoring local demand, new subsea cables are transforming connectivity, and grid-power scarcity has become the market’s defining constraint and a durable barrier to entry for well-capitalised, power-secured operators. AetherGrid Digital Infrastructure pursues this as a hyperscale and carrier-neutral platform developing four campuses across Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban toward 155 MW of critical IT load, built on long-dated hyperscale and enterprise contracts that convert capital-intensive infrastructure into an annuity-like revenue base. An R22.5-billion capital programme through 2036 (funded across sponsor equity, strategic and infrastructure investors, development-finance institutions and senior debt) scales the platform to R11.2 billion of Year-10 revenue at a 58% EBITDA margin and roughly 3,500 direct jobs — delivering an independently derived 30.7% project IRR and an approximately 28% equity IRR at a conservative ~6.0× multiple, with the exit struck at a conservative 13× EBITDA. As the plan notes, debt-service cover is thin only in the Year-3 ramp (0.84×) and strengthens materially thereafter.
Plan Contents
This investor-grade business plan is organised into the sections below. Each section is a dedicated page — select any to explore the full detail.
- 1Executive Summary
- 2Company Overview
- 3Market & Industry Analysis
- 4Competitive Analysis
- 5Business Model & Revenue Streams
- 6Development Strategy & Campus Roll-Out
- 7Operations & Management
- 8Financial Plan
- 9Funding Structure & Implementation Roadmap
- 10Risk Analysis
- 11ESG & Development Impact
- 12Exit Strategy & Investor Returns
- 13Conclusion
- 14Appendices
Confidentiality & Disclaimer
This confidential information memorandum (the “Memorandum”) has been
prepared by AetherGrid Digital Infrastructure Holdings (Pty) Ltd
(“AetherGrid” or the “Company”) to provide prospective investors and
lenders with information regarding its proposed development of
hyperscale and carrier-neutral data centre campuses across South Africa.
It is furnished on a strictly confidential basis to a limited number of
sophisticated institutional recipients and may not be reproduced or
distributed, in whole or in part, without the Company’s prior written
consent.
This Memorandum does not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to purchase securities in any jurisdiction, nor
financial advice as contemplated in the Financial Advisory and
Intermediary Services Act, 37 of 2002. Prospective investors should
conduct their own independent due diligence and obtain independent
legal, tax, technical, power and financial advice. AetherGrid is a
development-stage platform; while its strategy draws on the demonstrated
success of established operators such as Teraco, Equinix and Digital
Realty, it is an independent venture and no representation is made that
it is affiliated with, endorsed by, or will replicate the results of any
existing operator.
The projections in this Memorandum are forward-looking statements
resting on assumptions about power and grid-connection availability,
lease-up and occupancy, tariffs, capital costs, construction timelines,
exchange rates and interest rates — all inherently uncertain.
Utility-scale data centre development in South Africa faces specific,
well-documented constraints: grid-connection capacity is a binding
limit, with 20 MW connection requests reportedly facing 24–36 month
timelines in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and load-shedding has at times
forced operators to run diesel generation for over 200 hours per month.
Where this Memorandum departs materially from the sponsor’s headline
case — most importantly in independently re-deriving net profit below
EBITDA (which, after full depreciation and interest, is lower than the
sponsor’s figures), and in valuing the exit at a conservative 13x EBITDA
alongside the sponsor’s 18x — these differences are disclosed
deliberately and are central to the investment decision.
Figures are in South African Rand (ZAR) unless stated; “m” and “bn”
denote millions and billions, “MW” megawatts of critical IT load.
Certain totals may not cast exactly due to rounding. Industry statistics
are drawn from public sources including Mordor Intelligence, Arizton,
Xalam Analytics, operator disclosures (Teraco/Digital Realty), and South
African government and Eskom publications, and are believed reliable but
not independently verified. The independently re-derived three-statement
model ties in every projection year.
Confidential — this business plan is provided to prospective investors and lenders for evaluation purposes only and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written consent of AetherGrid Digital Infrastructure Holdings (Pty) Ltd.