NTT DATA South Africa sells 7 data centers to OADC in leaseback
BRACKENFELL and SANDTON, SOUTH AFRICA — NTT DATA South Africa has executed a strategic sale-leaseback of seven data centers to Open Access Data Centres (OADC), a WIOCC Group company—a move designed to optimize its local infrastructure portfolio and shift focus toward managed services.
TechAfrica News reports that while ownership of the physical assets transfers to OADC, NTT DATA retains full control over client relationships and service delivery.
Strategic divestiture for service focus
The acquisition structurally separates data center ownership and delivery, enabling NTT DATA South Africa to offload capital-intensive physical resources without losing control of its strategic relationship with clients or solution provisioning.
As OADC leases the seven facilities back to NTT DATA, the latter is relieved of the operational overhead of facilities management. This allows NTT DATA to focus exclusively on its core mission: pursuing digital transformation and cloud initiatives for its enterprise clients.
Martin Springer, Senior Director of Infrastructure Solutions at NTT DATA South Africa, notes, “NTT DATA’s local strategy is to streamline its portfolio by divesting noncore, asset-heavy operations and sharpening its focus on integrated technology and managed colocation services.”
“For NTT DATA clients, this transition is designed to be seamless. Services will continue without disruption, and client engagement channels remain unchanged.”
OADC concurrently expands its South African footprint by integrating the seven facilities previously operated under the Internet Solutions brand.
“This acquisition is a clear step in WIOCC Group’s wider Pan-Africa digital infrastructure strategy of expanding its data centre and connectivity business and specifically in OADC’s commitment to expand high-quality, carrier-neutral data centre infrastructure in South Africa,” said Joshua Smythwood, Chief Strategy & M&A Officer, WIOCC Group.
The company now operates these sites under leaseback terms that generate recurring revenue while NTT DATA retains occupancy.
Seamless service delivery
As NTT DATA South Africa deliberately preserves its role as the primary client contact, this ensures uninterrupted delivery of colocation, hosting, and managed services from the acquired sites.
The deal specifically exempts NTT DATA Global Data Center (GDC), Johannesburg 1, which remains autonomous under NTT DATA’s complete ownership and control, thereby preserving its competitive positioning while selectively rationalizing physical assets.
This omission reflects that it is a specific divestiture of legacy Internet Solutions infrastructure and not a withdrawal from the South Africa data center market.
“By assuming ownership and day-to-day operations of these facilities, we enable NTT DATA South Africa to sharpen its focus on client delivery, while OADC ensures resilient, scalable, and future-ready data centre operations,” said Smythwood.
NTT DATA is ranked #24 in the OA500 2025, an objective index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing companies. The 2026 edition of the OA500 is expected to be released in March. (Read the OA500 2026 methodology paper here.)
