Vantage Data Centers – a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses – recently announced a $6.4 billion equity investment led by investment vehicles managed by DigitalBridge Group (a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure) and Silver Lake (a global leader in technology investing).
This investment, across North America and EMEA, is incremental to the recently announced €1.5 billion to be invested by AustralianSuper in Vantage EMEA and includes expected investment from DigitalBridge and Silver Lake co-investors. And these investments accelerate and extend Vantage’s strategic capabilities across North America and EMEA to partner with global hyperscalers in meeting unprecedented cloud and AI demand.
The combined investments highlight the long-term commitment of two category-leading investors to the business. Silver Lake launched Vantage in 2010 as a single data center campus in Santa Clara, California, recruited a management team that continues to lead Vantage today, and grew the company to have the then-largest wholesale data center footprint in Silicon Valley focused on serving sophisticated technology companies.
A DigitalBridge-managed vehicle acquired Vantage in 2017 and was the key strategic partner for nearly seven years, further emphasizing the company’s strategy to support cloud and now AI adoption and scaling Vantage into a global market leader with 32 operational or developing hyperscale data center campuses across five continents.
This new investment from DigitalBridge and Silver Lake, which follows several years of record growth at Vantage, is a key enabler of its strategic growth and investment plan to meet customer demand. Vantage owns or controls 25 North American and EMEA sites totaling more than three gigawatts of expected capacity. As part of the investment plan, Vantage’s strategic land bank is expected to drive an estimated $30 billion of additional development, which extends Vantage’s track record of bringing market-leading capacity and innovative solutions to customers worldwide. In connection with the investment, Vantage will continue developing next-generation data centers, including energy-efficient and sustainable designs purpose-built for AI and large-scale cloud deployments.
The transactions are expected to close in the first quarter of this year, subject to customary closing conditions.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are delighted that Silver Lake is joining DigitalBridge to support Vantage’s continued expansion across North America and EMEA. Cloud computing, AI and related technologies are driving unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure. The market opportunity in front of us is extraordinary, and we are excited to chart our next phase of growth with two premier investors who have been great partners to us and have an unmatched understanding of our global technology customers and their infrastructure needs.”
— Sureel Choksi, president and CEO of Vantage
“We are excited about supporting the next chapter of Vantage’s growth in partnership with Silver Lake. We believe the combination of DigitalBridge’s unparalleled insight into the digital infrastructure landscape and Silver Lake’s technology focus creates a unique partnership to further enable Vantage’s strategic expansion and long-term growth plan. Vantage is a critical partner to the leading cloud and technology platforms globally and is well positioned to continue to support accelerating adoption of cloud- and AI-based technologies.”
— Jon Mauck, senior managing director at DigitalBridge, who leads the company’s data center investment strategy
“We are proud of what we pioneered when we launched Vantage, and we are thrilled to invest and partner again with this exceptional management team alongside DigitalBridge to drive the next generation of energy-efficient, hyperscale data center leadership. Silver Lake is committed to bringing to bear the depth and breadth of our specialized expertise across the technology landscape to strengthen Vantage’s partnerships with the world’s biggest and most sophisticated technology companies and continue to meet their most challenging data center needs.”
— Greg Mondre, co-CEO and managing partner, and Lee Wittlinger, managing director, of Silver Lake
