>We dug this years ago. Timing is suspect.
DigitalBridge Aquires Switch (Rob Roy)
>https://datacenterfrontier.com/digitalbridge-to-buy-switch-for-11-billion-as-data-center-ma-binge-continues/
DigitalBridge to Buy Switch for $11 Billion as Data Center M&A Binge Continues
>MAY 11, 2022
Data center developer Switch will be acquired by DigitalBridge and infrastructure investors IFM in an all cash deal valued at about $11 billion, the companies said today. DigitalBridge and IFM will pay $34.25 a share for Switch, about an 11 percent premium to the share price at the close of trading Tuesday.
Switch will once again become a private company, continuing a trend in which public data center REITs have been bought by large investors and taken private. Over the past year, QTS Data Centers, CyrusOne and CoreSite have al been acquired for more than $10 billion.
The deal brings together two leading innovators in the digital infrastructure in DigitalBridge’s Marc Ganzi and Switch founder Rob Roy. It also adds to DigitalBridge’s constellation of data center companies, which includes Vantage Data Centers and DataBank and investments in key players in edge computing, telecom towers, small cells and fiber.
Switch is one of the most distinctive players in the data center sector. It operates one of the largest cloud campuses in the world at its Las Vegas CORE Campus, where founder Rob Roy introduced pioneering concepts in high-density cooling and aisle containment, as well as custom multi-mode cooling systems. The company has added four more purpose-built campuses – the Citadel Campus in Reno, the Pyramid Campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Keep Campus in Atlanta, and the Rock Campus in Austin, which includes assets acquired From Data Foundry and a new facility adjacent to the Dell headquarters.
Switch also has one of the data center industry’s most compelling sustainability stories, with huge commitments to solar power and energy storage to support its operations.
“Today’s announcement is an important step towards our long-term vision for the growth and evolution of our company, said Roy. “Following our expansion into a Fifth Prime campus last year, and with our plan to construct more than 11 million additional square feet of capacity through 2030, Switch’s strategic position has never been stronger. The combination of our advanced data center infrastructure, significant expansion capacity in our land bank, and a new partnership with experienced digital infrastructure investors lays a strong foundation for Switch’s continued industry leading growth.”
“At DigitalBridge, we are building the world’s leading global digital infrastructure investment platform, and this transaction allows us to partner with one of the industry’s fastest growing and highest quality data center portfolios,” said Ganzi. “Rob and his team share our vision for the future of communications infrastructure, making us the ideal partner to scale their business both domestically and internationally to meet the exponentially rising demand from large enterprise customers looking for mission critical digital infrastructure. We are also pleased to partner with IFM Investors, one of the world’s leading institutional infrastructure investors, to execute this compelling transaction.”
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