Investor Consortium Led by Swiss Life and EDF Invest Acquires 35% Interest in DataBank for approximately $1.5B
Dallas, TX – August 30, 2022 – DataBank, a leading provider of enterprise-class colocation, interconnection, and managed services, today announced the closing of its initial recapitalization led by Swiss Life Asset Management AG (“SLAM”), EDF Invest (“EDF”), Northleaf Capital Partners and Ardian. Structured as a sale of ownership interests from existing investors for $1.5 billion, the new investor consortium will now own 35% of the fully-diluted equity interests in DataBank. The new investor group joins DigitalBridge, which remains invested in the company, as committed, long-term investors who will enable DataBank’s aggressive plans for the decade ahead.
Since 2016, DataBank has been developing an ecosystem of interconnection and data center locations in Tier 1 and Tier 2 U.S. metros that it believed would serve as the geographic foundation of a more decentralized, next-generation Internet infrastructure platform. Today, DataBank has more data centers in more metros than any other provider in the U.S. – public or private – with a footprint capable of putting customer workloads within 100 miles of 60% of the US population. The recapitalization will enable DataBank to execute a plan that builds upon this industry-leading footprint and capitalizes on edge infrastructure growth in the U.S. for the next decade.
“We’re excited to welcome this premier coalition of infrastructure investors to DataBank and know their vote of confidence is a validation of DataBank’s strategy,” said Raul K. Martynek, DataBank’s CEO. “We look forward to working with them to build upon our position as the leading colocation and interconnection edge platform and capitalize on a multi-gigawatt opportunity in edge computing.”
Subsequent stages of the recapitalization are expected to result in incremental new investors acquiring ownership interests in DataBank from existing investors prior to the anticipated completion of the recapitalization in the fourth quarter of 2022
DataBank was advised by Goldman Sachs as financial advisors and Proskauer Rose LLP as legal advisors.
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About Swiss Life Asset Management AG
Swiss Life AM has more than 160 years of experience in managing capital on behalf of the Swiss Life Group and its clients. The investment philosophy of Swiss Life AM focuses on principles of a long-term strategic approach, capital preservation, generation of consistent and sustainable returns as well as a responsible approach to risks. Swiss Life AM offers its asset management expertise to third-party clients in Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the UK. As of 31 December 2021, assets managed by Swiss Life on behalf of third-party clients amounted to €99 billion. Together with the investment mandates for the Swiss Life Group, total assets under management by Swiss Life AM stood at €266 billion, of which €7.3bn is managed by the Infrastructure Equity Business area. Swiss Life AM has a dedicated infrastructure team of more than 42 investment professionals, focusing on investments in global infrastructure assets including renewables, and a proven track record in creating value for its clients.
About EDF Invest
EDF Invest is the investment arm of EDF for non-listed Dedicated Assets. Dedicated Assets will fund the decommissioning of EDF’s power plants in France. EDF Invest currently manages around €9bn of equity and is targeting around €12 billion in the next few years. Our mission is to diversify EDF’s portfolio of Dedicated Assets and lengthen its investment horizon by targeting three non-listed asset classes in France and abroad: Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Funds. Follow EDF Invest on: www.edfinvest.com / and www.linkedin.com/company/edf-invest
About Northleaf Capital Partners
Northleaf Capital Partners is a global private markets investment firm with more than US$20 billion in private equity, private credit, and infrastructure commitments raised to date from the public, corporate and multi-employer pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions, and family offices. Northleaf’s team of 200 professionals, located in Toronto, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Menlo Park, Montreal, and New York, is focused exclusively on sourcing, evaluating, and managing private markets investments globally. Its portfolio includes more than 500 active investments in more than 40 countries, with a focus on mid-market companies and assets. For more information on Northleaf, please visit www.northleafcapital.com.
About Ardian
Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $141bn of assets on behalf of more than 1,300 clients globally. Our broad expertise, spanning Private Equity, Real Assets, and Credit, enables us to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to our clients’ differing needs. Through Ardian Customized Solutions we create bespoke portfolios that allow institutional clients to specify the precise mix of assets they require and to gain access to funds managed by leading third-party sponsors. We also provide a specialist service for private clients through Ardian Private Wealth Solutions. Ardian is majority-owned by its employees and places great emphasis on developing its people and fostering a collaborative culture based on collective intelligence. Our 900+ employees, spread across 15 offices in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, are strongly committed to the principles of Responsible Investment and are determined to make finance a force for good in society. Our goal is to deliver excellent investment performance combined with high ethical standards and social responsibility. At Ardian, we invest all of ourselves in building companies that last. For more information visit: www.ardian.com
About DigitalBridge
DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) is a leading global digital infrastructure investment firm. With a heritage of over 25 years of investing in and operating businesses across the digital ecosystem including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages a $47 billion portfolio of digital infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and shareholders. Headquartered in Boca Raton, DigitalBridge has key offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore. For more information visit www.digitalbridge.com.
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About DataBank
DataBank enables the world’s largest enterprises, technology, and content providers to consistently deploy and manage their infrastructure, applications, and data on the right platform, at the right time, in the right place.
Our colocation and edge infrastructure footprint consists of 65+ data centers and 20 interconnection hubs in 27+ markets, on-ramps to an ecosystem of cloud providers, and a modular edge data center platform with virtually unlimited reach.
We combine these platforms with contract portability, managed security, compliance enablement, hands-on support, and a guarantee of 100% uptime availability, to give our customers absolute confidence in their IT infrastructure and the power to create a limitless digital future for their business.
To learn more or tour a facility, visit DataBank.com or call 1(800) 840-7533.
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