Acquisition will accelerate global expansion
of Serverfarm's portfolio and drive innovation to better serve
customer requirements
BOSTON and LOS
ANGELES, May 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife
Investment Management ("Manulife IM"), on behalf of Manulife
Infrastructure Fund II* and its affiliates, is pleased to announce
that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a
controlling interest in Serverfarm, a data center owner and
operator. The significant investment by Manulife IM, together with
support from existing shareholders, will provide capital to
Serverfarm to continue its expansion across North America, Europe, and Israel to capitalize on attractive market
opportunities.
Serverfarm currently operates a portfolio of eight data centers
across North America, Europe and Israel that aggregate more than 1.5 million
gross square feet and 125MW of IT capacity, and it has secured
additional land for future data center developments.
"Avner and the Serverfarm team have built a high-quality data
center portfolio and growth platform that is well-positioned to
capitalize on the strong secular tailwinds in the data center
market," said Recep Kendircioglu, global head of infrastructure,
Manulife Investment Management. "We are excited about the company's
future and our ability to support Serverfarm through its next phase
of growth on behalf of our clients."
"Partnering with Manulife Investment Management, an investor
that shares Serverfarm's vision for growth and customer service,
will allow us to effectively address the next wave of demand from
our existing and new customers," said Avner
Papouchado, Founder and CEO of Serverfarm. "Our new
relationship with Manulife Investment Management provides
Serverfarm with additional expertise and new capital to execute on
a number of attractive development opportunities and give our
customers a long-term growth runway."
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of
2023 after the satisfaction of customary closing conditions
including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is serving as lead financial
advisor, TD Securities (USA) LLC
is serving as financial advisor, and Dentons US LLP and Alston
& Bird LLP are serving as legal counsel to Serverfarm.
TAP Advisors LLC is serving as financial advisor, and Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal
counsel to Manulife Investment Management.
About Manulife Investment
Management
Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the
global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife
Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial
stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to
serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members
worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our extensive capabilities in public
and private markets are strengthened by an investment
footprint that spans 19 geographies. We complement these
capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated
asset managers from around the world. We're committed to investing
responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative
global frameworks for sustainable investing,
collaboratively engage with companies in our securities
portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where
we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting
financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans.
Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan
administration and investment expertise to help their
employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement. Not all
offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional
information, please visit manulifeim.com.
About Serverfarm LLC
Serverfarm is an established multi-regional data center platform
that provides data center solutions to key hyperscale, webscale,
technology & network customers. These data center solutions
include Colocation, Data Center Design, and IT Infrastructure
Management, through Serverfarm's proprietary InCommand DMaaS
technology. For more information, visit
https://www.serverfarmllc.com/.
* Manulife
Infrastructure Fund II is closed and no longer open for
subscription
|
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/manulife-investment-management-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-a-controlling-interest-in-data-center-platform-serverfarm-301829520.html
SOURCE Manulife Investment Management