Stanlib Moves to Consolidate South Africa’s Digital Backbone with ADC Acquisition

Stanlib, the asset management arm of Standard Bank Group, is poised to acquire Africa Data Centres (ADC). The deal, which received a favorable recommendation from the South African Competition Commission last week, marks a significant homecoming for the flagship Samrand Data Centre and a strategic pivot for its parent, Cassava Technologies.

Infrastructure Fund II acquiring the digital infrastructure unit from Cassava, the pan-African technology group founded by Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa. While the financial terms remain undisclosed, the Commission’s unconditional approval recommendation suggests the deal faces few regulatory hurdles before reaching the Competition Tribunal for final ratification.

The centerpiece of the deal is the Samrand Data Centre, a Tier IV facility north of Johannesburg. Originally built by Standard Bank, the facility was sold to ADC in 2020 as part of the bank’s shift toward asset-light cloud strategies. Under Cassava’s stewardship, the site underwent massive expansion growing from 10MW to a projected 40MW to meet the hyperscale requirements of global cloud providers.

For Stanlib, the acquisition is less about IT operations and more about infrastructure yield. Institutional investors increasingly view data centres not as tech plays, but as digital real estate capable of delivering inflation-hedged, long-term contractual income.

The timing of the deal reflects a broader shift in the African tech landscape. As multinational giants like Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud expand their availability zones on the continent, the demand for AI-ready infrastructure has skyrocketed.

Data centres are moving from niche assets to core components of national economic infrastructure.

Cassava has positioned ADC as a continental platform for digital infrastructure. In late 2021, the group committed $500 million to expand its footprint, targeting the development of 10 hyperscale facilities across markets including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt. That strategy was reinforced in 2024 when RMB provided a R2 billion financing facility to support further build-out and equipment upgrades.

The deal highlights three critical trends in the regional Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sector, the phased consolidation. This is to say the acquisition follows a strategic partnership announced in late 2025, suggesting a trend toward gradual equity increases in capital-heavy sectors. By leveraging Liquid’s 110,000km fiber backbone, ADC offers bundled connectivity and hosting, a competitive moat that makes it highly attractive to institutional funds.

The Competition Commission’s finding of no competition risks indicates that South Africa’s market remains sufficiently fragmented, despite the entry of traditional financial heavyweights.