Axiata Group Bhd's unit is acquiring a 35% stake in data centre company Digital Reality (Private) Ltd (DRPL) for 262.5 million Sri Lankan rupees (RM6.55 million) cash in order to form a data centre business in Sri Lanka.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the group said Dialog Broadband Networks (Private) Ltd (DBN) has entered into a deal with St Anthony's Property Developers (Private) Ltd (SAPD) for the stake acquisition.

DBN, which is Sri Lanka's second largest fixed telecommunications provider, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dialog Axiata Plc which in turn is an 83.32% subsidiary of Axiata.

SAPD is a member of St Anthony Group and is the main developer of Sri Lanka's largest privately held IT park, "Orion City".

Under the agreement, Axiata said SAPD provides options for DBN to increase its stake in DRPL and obtain control which are exercisable within a period from year three to year five.

Axiata said the purchase consideration will be funded through internally generated funds.

At 2.47pm, the group's share price jumped 14 sen or 2.62% to RM5.49 with 838,000 shares changing hands.

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