Swiss Life-Led Consortium to Acquire 27% Equity
Interest in DataBank
DigitalBridge to Support Next Phase of
Value-Creation Alongside New Investor Base
DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG) (“DigitalBridge”) today
announced the recapitalization of its portfolio company DataBank, a
leading nationwide edge data center platform. The initial stage of
the recapitalization is being structured as a sale of ownership
interests to affiliates of Swiss Life Asset Management AG (“Swiss
Life Asset Managers”) and EDF Invest (“EDF Invest”). Under the
terms of the agreement, SLAM and EDF will acquire 27% of the fully
diluted equity interests in DataBank for approximately $1.2 billion
in cash from existing investors.
Marc Ganzi, CEO of DigitalBridge, said, “Since we acquired
DataBank in 2016, we have scaled its footprint, capacity and
customer base in key metro areas across the United States,
transforming DataBank from a business serving three markets with
six facilities to the premier edge infrastructure platform serving
twenty-seven markets across more than sixty-five facilities. The
formation of this new permanent capital vehicle allows
DigitalBridge shareholders to maintain significant exposure to the
next phase of value creation at DataBank alongside our new
co-investors while also freeing up significant capital at an
attractive valuation to fuel additional digital M&A.”
DataBank is the largest edge infrastructure operator in the U.S.
enabling the world’s largest enterprises, technology and content
providers to consistently deploy and manage their mission-critical
applications and data across a nationwide platform. DataBank’s
portfolio consists of more than 65 data centers, 20 interconnection
hubs in more than 27 markets, on-ramps to an ecosystem of cloud
providers, and a modular edge data center platform.
Mr. Ganzi added, “This transaction will catalyze the next phase
of DataBank’s growth with a new group of marquee investors poised
to benefit from the continued powerful infrastructure expansion at
the edge and DigitalBridge’s track record and expertise investing
across the digital infrastructure ecosystem.”
“This recapitalization allows us to accelerate our expansion
efforts and capture the substantial secular growth in edge
computing,” said Raul Martynek, DataBank’s CEO. “DataBank is
strategically positioned as the leading platform to deliver and
enable the network edge ecosystem as a shift from traditional
centralized infrastructures continues to evolve to the edge.”
Upon completion of this initial phase of the recapitalization
and pursuant to the transaction announced in this release,
DigitalBridge’s ownership interests in DataBank will be reduced to
15.5% and DigitalBridge will receive cash proceeds of $230 million,
implying a pre-transaction net value of $906 million, inclusive of
retained net value of $676 million.
Subsequent stages of the recapitalization are expected to result
in incremental new investors acquiring ownership interests in
DataBank from existing investors, including DigitalBridge, prior to
the anticipated completion of the recapitalization in the fourth
quarter of 2022. The recapitalization transactions are and will be
subject to various closing conditions, including receipt of
required regulatory approvals. Additional details regarding the key
terms of the recapitalization are contained in a Current Report on
Form 8-K filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Swiss Life Asset Managers was advised by DH Capital as financial
advisor and Vinson & Elkins LLP as legal advisors. DataBank was
advised by Goldman Sachs as financial advisor and Proskauer Rose
LLP as legal advisors. DigitalBridge was advised by Wachtell,
Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal advisors. PJT Partners acted as
exclusive financial advisor to DigitalBridge’s Independent
Transaction Committee of the Board of Directors.
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.
About Swiss Life Asset Management AG
Swiss Life Asset Managers 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 Asset Managers
focuses on principles of long-term strategic approach, capital
preservation, generation of consistent and sustainable returns as
well as a responsible approach to risks. Swiss Life Asset Managers
offers its asset management expertise to third-party clients in
Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the UK. As at 31
December 2021, assets managed by Swiss Life Asset Managers 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 Asset Managers stood at €266
billion, of which €9.0bn is managed by the Infrastructure Equity
Business area. Swiss Life Asset Managers 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 DigitalBridge
DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) is a leading global digital
infrastructure investment firm. With a heritage of over 25 years
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.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements
relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and
strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions
concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases,
you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,”
“expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,”
“estimates,” “predicts,” or “potential” or the negative of these
words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions
of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate
solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and
contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, and may cause
actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any
forward-looking statement. Factors that might cause such a
difference include, without limitation, whether the DataBank
recapitalization will be completed on the timeframe anticipated or
at all, whether the Company will realize any of the anticipated
benefits from the DataBank recapitalization, and other risks and
uncertainties, including those detailed in the Company’s Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, Quarterly
Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, and its
other reports filed from time to time with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”). All forward-looking statements reflect
the Company’s good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but
they are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions
investors not to unduly rely on any forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this
current report. The Company is under no duty to update any of these
forward-looking statements after the date of this release, nor to
conform prior statements to actual results or revised expectations,
and the Company does not intend to do so.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220616005941/en/
Investors: Severin White Managing Director, Head of
Public Investor Relations severin.white@digitalbridge.com (212)
547-2777
Media: Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher Jonathan
Keehner / Aura Reinhard dbrg-jf@joelefrank.com (212) 355-4449
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