Correspondence 0001104659-23-091759 from GDS Holdings Ltd (GDS, GDHLF) (CIK 0001526125) (GDS)
GDS Holdings Ltd (GDS, GDHLF) (CIK 0001526125)
Date: Aug. 15, 2023 · CIK: 0001526125 · Accession: 0001104659-23-091759
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File numbers found in text: 001-37925
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CORRESP
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filename1.htm
Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett
icbc
tower, 35th floor
3 garden
road, central
hong
kong
telephone:
+852-2514-7600
facsimile:
+852-2869-7694
Direct Dial Number
+852-2514-7660
E-mail Address
dfertig@stblaw.com
August 15, 2023
CONFIDENTIAL
AND VIA EDGAR
Division of
Corporation Finance
U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission
100 F Street,
N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Attention:
Mr. Dan Morris
Ms. Jennifer Thompson
Ms. Kathleen Collins
Ms. Megan Akst
Re: GDS
Holdings Limited
Form 20-F for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022
Filed April 4, 2023
File No. 001-37925
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of our client, GDS Holdings Limited,
a company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (the “Company”), we respond to the comments contained in
the letter from the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”),
dated August 8, 2023 (the “August 8 Comment Letter”) relating to the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F
for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 filed with the Commission on April 4, 2023 (the “Annual Report”).
Set forth below are the Company’s responses
to the Staff’s comments in the August 8 Comment Letter. The Staff’s comments are retyped below in bold italic font for
your ease of reference. The Company respectfully advises the Staff that where the Company proposes to add or revise disclosure in its
future annual reports on Form 20-F in response to the Staff’s comments, the changes to be made will be subject to relevant
factual updates and changes in relevant laws or regulations, or in interpretations thereof.
michael
j.c.M. ceulen marjory j. ding daniel
fertig adam C. furber YI
GAO MAKIKO HARUNARI Ian
C. Ho JONATHAN HWANG anthony d. king jin hYUK
park Erik p. wang christopher k.s. wong
resident
partners
simpson
thacher & bartlett, hong kong is an affiliate of simpson thacher & bartlett llp with offices in:
New
York Beijing Brussels Houston LONDON Los
Angeles Palo Alto SÃO PAULO TOKYO Washington,
D.C.
Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett
Division of Corporation Finance
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
-2-
August 15,
2023
Form 20-F for the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note 25. Major Customers and Suppliers, page F-59
1. We note your proposed revised disclosures in response
to prior comment 4. Please further revise to clarify that Contracting Customer C represents
the direct sales portion of revenue from End User Customer One. Also, clarify that a portion
of revenue from the two significant End User Customers is also reflected within each of the
Contracting Customers revenue percentages..
In response to the Staff’s comment, in the Company’s
future annual reports on Form 20-F the Company will provide further information to clarify the corresponding relationship between
the Company’s major contracting customers and major end user customers. A sample of the proposed revised disclosure in Note 25
to Consolidated Financial Statements for the periods ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022 is set forth in Annex A.
* * *
Simpson Thacher &
Bartlett
Division of Corporation Finance
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
-3-
August 15,
2023
If
you have any question regarding the Company’s responses to the Staff’s comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at
+852-2514-7660 (work), +852-6640-3886 (mobile) or dfertig@stblaw.com (email).
Very truly yours,
/s/ Daniel Fertig
Daniel Fertig
Enclosure: Annex
A
cc: William Wei Huang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Daniel Newman, Chief Financial Officer
Jamie Gee Choo Khoo, Chief Operating Officer
Andy Wenfeng Li, General Counsel and Company Secretary
GDS Holdings Limited
Kevin Huang
Vivien Yang
KPMG Huazhen LLP
Annex A
Comment 1
25 MAJOR CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS
The
Company defines “end user customers” (or “customers”) as the end users of the Company’s services. The Company
defines “contracting customers” as parties with which the Company enters into sales agreements, including (i) the
Company’s end user customers that directly enter into sales agreements with the Company; and (ii) intermediate contracting
parties that, at the request of the Company’s end user customers, enter into sales agreements with the Company, in which case the
Company may provide services to the end user customers through such agreements.
During
the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Company had the following contracting customers which generated over
10% of the Company’s total net revenues:
Years ended
December 31,
2020
2021
2022
Contracting Customer A
1,347,165
1,736,295
1,895,877
Contracting Customer B
N/A
873,378
1,595,777
Contracting Customer C
674,621
785,528
1,130,799
Contracting Customer D
847,620
964,414
1,031,102
During
the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Company had the following end user customers which generated over 10%
of the Company’s total net revenues:
Years ended
December 31,
2020
2021
2022
End User Customer One
1,511,977
1,850,523
2,341,346
End User Customer Two
1,173,696
1,735,536
1,857,369
During
the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Company generated a portion of the net revenue attributable to End
User Customer One and End User Customer Two through sales agreements entered into with them directly; during the same years, the Company
generated the remaining portion of the net revenue attributable to End User Customer One and End User Customer Two through sales agreements
entered into with intermediate contracting parties, including Contracting Customer A, Contracting Customer B, and Contracting Customer
D.
During
the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the portion of net revenue generated by the Company from End User Customer
One through sales agreements entered into with it directly is represented by the revenue listed under Contracting Customer C; during
the same years, the portion of net revenue generated by the Company from End User Customer Two through sales agreements entered into
with it directly is not disclosed as a separate line item under contracting customers above as it constituted less than 10% of the Company’s
total net revenues in each year.
During
the years ended December 31, 2020, 2021 and 2022, the numbers of major suppliers of the Company were two, one and one, respectively,
from whom the purchase amounts from each of them accounted for over 10% of the Company's operating expenditures. Severe impact can result
from total or partial loss of the business relationship.