Ping An Overseas Holdings Announces US$150 million Equity Investment in GDS

--- Underpins Strategic Co-operation in Data Center Development --- 

HONG KONG, March 14, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Ping An Insurance Overseas (Holdings) Limited ("Ping An Overseas Holdings" or the "Company"), a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An"), today announced a US$150 million equity investment in GDS Holdings Limited ("GDS Holdings," or "GDS") (NASDAQ: GDS), a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China. The investment will be in the form of convertible preferred shares. GDS will use the proceeds from the investment to fund expansion of its data center capacity and for general corporate purposes.

"We are delighted to strengthen our strategic relationship with Ping An through this investment," commented Mr. William Huang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GDS. "We very much appreciate Ping An Overseas Holding's support as an investor in GDS and are honored to count them as one of our top customers. We see great potential to work with Ping An in growing its market-leading technology platforms and ecosystems in key verticals such as fintech, healthcare, auto-services, real estate, and smart cities. Ping An is among the largest and most admired companies in China. We are proud of the trusted relationship we have built with them and are excited to work more closely together in achieving both of our goals."

Mr. Hoi Tung, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ping An Overseas Holdings, commented, "Over the past 6 years, Ping An has built a fruitful and longstanding relationship with GDS, and we have witnessed their tremendous success in becoming a prominent franchise in the data center industry. Ping An Overseas Holdings' investment represents yet another vote of confidence in GDS' capability in being a driving force leading the next wave of technological advancement in China."

"Ping An Overseas Holdings looks forward to further expanding our partnership with GDS in areas such as financing and real estate. In addition, as Ping An has a strong commitment to our strategy of "Finance + Technology" and "Finance + Ecosystem", we will also seek to pursue strategic co-operation with GDS in the technology arena," Mr. Tung concluded.

DLA Piper LLP served as legal counsel to Ping An Overseas Holdings. J.P. Morgan acted as sole placement agent to GDS in connection with the private placement and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel.