By Mitchell Hageman
BW Digital has completed its full acquisition of Hawaiki Submarine Cable, with all applicable regulatory filings and approvals now received.
The formal completion of the acquisition has resulted in BW Digital now owning 100 per cent of the shares of Hawaiki, with the new development set to provide a wealth of future cable solutions to customers across APAC and the USA.
Headquartered in Singapore, BW Digital develops, funds and operates digital infrastructures in the Asia-Pacific region. It is a subsidiary of BW Group, a leading global maritime company involved in shipping, maritime infrastructure, and new sustainable technologies.
In a bid to help drive growth, the company has set out a roadmap for the future, featuring a series of complementary developments focused on the Asia-Pacific region. One of these inclusions is Hawaiki Nui, the first submarine cable to directly interconnect Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and the US.
The company’s Datagrid center also features, which is set to be Australasia’s first carbon-neutral hyperscale data center located in Invercargill NZ, and will be powered by 100 per cent green energy.
“We are delighted to have received clearance for our investment in Hawaiki, and will now redouble efforts on our new cable projects,” says BW Digital Chairman Andreas Sohmen-Pao.
“These cables represent vital infrastructure for the deployment of technology in industry, research, and the digital economy. And they are enablers for social progress by connecting countries across the oceans, facilitating digital trade just as ships in the past enabled physical trade.”
Hawaiki founder and CEO of BW Digital Rémi Galasso says he is looking forward to expanding on Hawaiki’s existing assets and portfolio to help better meet growing connectivity demands.
“Our team is looking forward to realising this new chapter of the company’s history,” he says.
“Capitalising on Hawaiki’s existing assets, our strategy is to build an independent, carrier-neutral, digital infrastructure platform, that will respond to ever-growing market requirements for international connectivity and sustainable data storage.”
In 2018, Hawaiki completed the Hawaiki Transpacific Cable, a 15,000 km subsea fibre optic cable linking Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Hawaii and the west coast of the US. It has quickly become a critical infrastructure asset in the regions, providing strong international connections and quality.
Looking to the future, BW Digital has also partnered with Chile’s state-owned entity Desarrollo País for the development of the Humboldt cable system. This will connect Sydney to Valparaiso (Chile’s second-largest city after Santiago), linking the South American market across a Great Southern Route.
