Singapore, January 22, 2024 – Lightstorm, a leading pan-Asia cloud network infrastructure platform owned by I Squared Capital, a prominent independent global infrastructure investment firm headquartered in Miami, has signed asset purchase agreements with court-appointed receivers in both Delaware and Singapore to acquire three submarine cables, including the JGA-North as well as significant portions of the JGA-South and SEA-US cable systems.
The transaction will be subject to the regulatory approval process and target to close in the second half of this year. The receivers in Delaware and Singapore will continue managing the companies during the transition period until all necessary regulatory approvals are obtained, and have appointed David Zimmer, the lead of Lightstorm international subsea connectivity business, as interim-CEO to assist with the day-to-day operations during this transition phase.
The acquired three cables have total length of ~21,000 km and ~64 Tbps allocated capacity, connecting key markets including the US, Guam, Japan and Australia. Following the acquisition, Lightstorm will enhance its submarine capabilities further complimenting its existing terrestrial DCI business in Asia.
"We are thrilled to integrate these high-value subsea cables into our platform,” said Amajit Gupta, CEO and MD of Lightstorm Group. “This acquisition will fortify our position as a leading cloud network infrastructure provider and expand our geographic presence and service offerings by linking through expanded subsea assets such as this cable system. We are excited to build upon RTI Cable’s extraordinary achievements and wish Russ well in his future endeavors.”
“I Squared Capital portfolio companies already operate a formidable global network, and their acquisition of leading subsea cables positions the Lightstorm Group for unprecedented future growth” added RTI Cable’s founder and former CEO Russ Matulich. “It is a privilege to have worked alongside many of the industry’s best to achieve something more important than ourselves, and I look forward to celebrating their future achievements.”
About Lightstorm
Initially launched in 2020, Lightstorm started with the SmartNet brand which was built to be a carrier-neutral, low latency and DCI-focused fiber network in India. As of today, SmartNet has expanded into 7 major cities across India with ~24,000 km of route fiber connected to ~60 data centers. Its NaaS offering, Polarin™ is an interconnection network platform that enables seamless connectivity between data centers, hybrid and multi-cloud environments, internet exchanges, and SaaS applications. With the success in India, Lightstorm further expanded into Indonesia in 2022, replicating a similar business model with first project targeting to roll out ~1,000 km of fiber and connecting ~40 data centers in Greater Jakarta. Looking forward, Lightstorm targets to continue expanding its geographical coverage to other South East Asian and Middle East countries and enriching its products and services to ultimately establish a leading next-gen cloud network infrastructure platform with assets across APAC and interconnecting them with the US West Coast.
For further information, please contact:
Dhwani Arora
Group Head of Corporate Marketing, Lightstorm
dhwani.arora@lightstorm.net
