Vantage Data Centers: Colony Capital and Vantage Data Centers to Form Strategic Partnership to Advance Data Center Growth
Jul 08, 2020 | Posted by Eric Bell
Vantage has announced that Colony Capital will invest $1.2 billion into Vantage. This is on top of the $800 million it raised in February 2020 and $692 million it raised in 2019. A massive war chest to fund Vantage's aggressive expansion into Europe.
Earlier this year the company announced it was moving into 4 greenfield markets (in addition to ETIX and NGD acquisitions)
Earlier this year the company announced it was moving into 4 greenfield markets (in addition to ETIX and NGD acquisitions)
- Berlin: 64MW campus on 13 acres (5 hectares)
- Milan: 32MW campus on 17 acres (7 hectares)
- Warsaw: 64MW campus 12 acres (5 hectares)
- Zurich: 40MW campus on 7 acres (3 hectares)
Colony Capital and Vantage Data Centers to Form Strategic Partnership to Advance Data Center Growth
LOS ANGELES and DENVER – Vantage Data Centers, a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, and an investor group led by Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY), a leading global investment management firm, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement to form a strategic partnership valued at $3.5 billion to accelerate the expansion of Vantage’s best-in-class, wholesale data centers throughout North America and Europe.
As part of the agreement, the Colony-led investor group will invest $1.2 billion in Vantage’s diversified portfolio, including 12 stabilized North American data centers, which span more than 1.4 million gross square feet and 150MW of IT capacity across key strategic markets in Santa Clara, California; Quincy, Washington; Montreal and Quebec City, Canada. Vantage’s management team, led by Sureel Choksi, president and CEO, will continue to manage and operate these assets as part of its global data center footprint. Vantage will maintain the same level of superior service to its valued customers in each market, while simultaneously developing and operating additional data centers throughout North America and Europe. The capital provided by this transaction will support Vantage’s strategy to expand and enhance its global footprint.
The strategic partnership also marks a significant milestone in Colony’s ongoing digital transformation, with $200 million of the investment coming from Colony’s balance sheet, underscoring its commitment to investing in and acquiring world-class, stabilized digital infrastructure assets that deliver consistent returns for Colony shareholders.
“This innovative transaction establishes the most valuable portfolio of hyperscale data center assets in North America, backed and managed by the best-in-class management team at Vantage,” said Marc Ganzi, CEO of Colony Capital. “As Colony continues to build momentum around our strategic transformation to digital infrastructure, this investment demonstrates our commitment to acquire high-quality digital assets on our balance sheet. We expect this will benefit our shareholders by providing consistent, predictable earnings from long-term leases with the highest-caliber, investment-grade customers.”
“This strategic partnership with the Colony Capital-led investor group provides Vantage with a partner that deeply understands digital infrastructure,” said Mr. Choksi. “Vantage and its investor group are now even more well positioned to capitalize on a number of attractive market opportunities and deploy the necessary capital to drive innovation, deliver state-of-the-art facilities for our customers, and accelerate our expansion plans in existing and new markets globally.”
The partnership is expected to be finalized in late July. Citi served as financial advisor to Vantage Data Centers.
About Colony Capital
Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) is a leading global investment firm with a heritage of identifying and capitalizing on key secular trends in real estate. The company manages a $50 billion portfolio of real assets on behalf of its shareholders and limited partners, including over $20 billion in digital real estate investments through Digital Colony, its digital infrastructure platform. Colony Capital, structured as a REIT, is headquartered in Los Angeles with key offices in Boca Raton, New York, and London, and has over 350 employees across 20 locations in 12 countries.
About Vantage Data Centers
Vantage Data Centers powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across six markets in North America and five markets in Europe, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.
As part of the agreement, the Colony-led investor group will invest $1.2 billion in Vantage’s diversified portfolio, including 12 stabilized North American data centers, which span more than 1.4 million gross square feet and 150MW of IT capacity across key strategic markets in Santa Clara, California; Quincy, Washington; Montreal and Quebec City, Canada. Vantage’s management team, led by Sureel Choksi, president and CEO, will continue to manage and operate these assets as part of its global data center footprint. Vantage will maintain the same level of superior service to its valued customers in each market, while simultaneously developing and operating additional data centers throughout North America and Europe. The capital provided by this transaction will support Vantage’s strategy to expand and enhance its global footprint.
The strategic partnership also marks a significant milestone in Colony’s ongoing digital transformation, with $200 million of the investment coming from Colony’s balance sheet, underscoring its commitment to investing in and acquiring world-class, stabilized digital infrastructure assets that deliver consistent returns for Colony shareholders.
“This innovative transaction establishes the most valuable portfolio of hyperscale data center assets in North America, backed and managed by the best-in-class management team at Vantage,” said Marc Ganzi, CEO of Colony Capital. “As Colony continues to build momentum around our strategic transformation to digital infrastructure, this investment demonstrates our commitment to acquire high-quality digital assets on our balance sheet. We expect this will benefit our shareholders by providing consistent, predictable earnings from long-term leases with the highest-caliber, investment-grade customers.”
“This strategic partnership with the Colony Capital-led investor group provides Vantage with a partner that deeply understands digital infrastructure,” said Mr. Choksi. “Vantage and its investor group are now even more well positioned to capitalize on a number of attractive market opportunities and deploy the necessary capital to drive innovation, deliver state-of-the-art facilities for our customers, and accelerate our expansion plans in existing and new markets globally.”
The partnership is expected to be finalized in late July. Citi served as financial advisor to Vantage Data Centers.
About Colony Capital
Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) is a leading global investment firm with a heritage of identifying and capitalizing on key secular trends in real estate. The company manages a $50 billion portfolio of real assets on behalf of its shareholders and limited partners, including over $20 billion in digital real estate investments through Digital Colony, its digital infrastructure platform. Colony Capital, structured as a REIT, is headquartered in Los Angeles with key offices in Boca Raton, New York, and London, and has over 350 employees across 20 locations in 12 countries.
About Vantage Data Centers
Vantage Data Centers powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across six markets in North America and five markets in Europe, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.
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