Partners Group recently acquired global data center developer, EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure.
Partners Group will initially invest USD 1.2 billion to fund the acquisition and buildout of existing and future data center sites.
Tom Ray, EdgeCore CEO and Executive Vice Chairman said, “We are pleased and honored to become a portfolio company of Partners Group. Importantly, we are excited to align with Partners Group’s team of talented investment and operating professionals. The EdgeCore team strongly believes that Partners Group brings value-add dynamics that support the growth of the EdgeCore platform and enhance the data center infrastructure and services we provide to our customers. Joining forces with a value-add team was a key goal in our recapitalization of EdgeCore, and Partners Group brings both tremendous capabilities and a strong ethos around creating added value in its portfolio companies by fostering collaboration.”
Partners Group’s Ed Diffendal, Managing Director and Co-Head of Private Infrastructure in the Americas commented, “EdgeCore represents a compelling opportunity to deepen and broaden our digital infrastructure assets and capabilities. We are excited to scale EdgeCore, and we believe its strong portfolio of data center sites and advanced pipeline of shovel-ready assets in strategically important markets should enable rapid growth. We are confident that the EdgeCore team also brings embedded organizational capabilities to scale. We look forward to working with the management team and fueling the next phase of growth of the EdgeCore platform.”
How will Partners Group utilize its investment in EdgeCore?
Colorado-based EdgeCore focuses on selecting, building, and commercializing data centers for prominent cloud, internet, and technology companies in the world. Partners Group will use its investment to acquire EdgeCore’s existing and under-construction data center sites and fund future acquisitions and buildout. Data center contracts are often long-term as customers are charged a price based on their contracted power capacity. This leads to highly visible cashflows. The Company is expected to benefit from global digitization themes, like the growth of cloud computing, machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and 5G technologies. These technologies are driving the demand for data center processing and storage.
EdgeCore’s experienced management team, with over 140 years of combined industry experience, will partner with Partners Group to create value through expansion and sustainability initiatives. These initiatives include expanding existing sites, acquiring and building future assets in the US, and expanding sustainability initiatives at its data center campuses.
Edgecore has strong infrastructure characteristics and is expected to benefit from structural tailwinds across the data center sector. As businesses continue to grow and move existing workloads by taking advantage of outsourced models, they will be able to achieve reduced capital and operating costs, greater scalability, advanced sustainability, and operational advantages like enhanced reliability, resiliency, and security. Partner Group’s value-creation plan focuses on continuing to build a best-in-class sustainable digital infrastructure platform to serve the world’s most demanding customers.
Partners Group’s Private Infrastructure business has over 130 investments in 18 different countries. This business manages a total of USD 21 billion in assets.
Latham and Watkins, KPMG, Clifford Chance, and Ropes & Gray were advisories to Partners Group while EdgeCore was advised by Greenberg Traurig, RBC Capital Markets, and Ernst and Young.
In December 2021, Partners Group acquired atNorth, data center operator in Iceland with the aim to transform it into a major pan-Nordic provider of sustainable and efficient data center solutions.
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