Digital Realty to Buy Ascenty in a $1.8 Billion Deal

Digital Realty, a global provider of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions announced the acquisition of Ascenty, a leading data center provider in Brazil for $1.8 billion. Digital Realty’s Brazilian subsidiary, Stellar Participações Ltda., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ascenty from private equity firm Great Hill Partners.

Digital Realty has separately entered into an independent bilateral equity commitment letter with Brookfield Infrastructure, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, one of the largest owners and operators of infrastructure assets globally. Under the agreement, Brookfield has committed to fund half of the required initial equity investment in exchange for 49% of the total equity interests in a joint venture entity expected to ultimately own Ascenty.

According to Digital Realty, the Latin American region represents a compelling opportunity for future data center growth, driven by positive macro and demographic factors. The deal is a great opportunity for Digital Realty to accelerate their growth in Latin America.

Ascenty has an in-service portfolio of eight state-of-the-art data centers strategically located in the key Brazilian metro areas of São Paulo, Campinas, Rio de Janeiro, and Fortaleza. Its portfolio is comprised of 106.2 megawatts of total planned capacity, including 39.2 megawatts of capacity currently in-service, 34.0 megawatts of capacity under construction and 33.0 megawatts of potential additional capacity.

Digital Realty claims that the acquisition establishes them as a market leader within a historically under-served region poised for rapid growth. "This acquisition advances our strategy of sourcing strategic and complementary assets to strengthen and diversify Digital Realty's data center portfolio and expand our product mix and global footprint," said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer Bill Stein.

 The Ascenty management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Christopher Torto will remain in place. The team will maintain day-to-day responsibility for operations in the region. “Our combined platform will be uniquely positioned to provide our customers the full spectrum of data center solutions along with the ability to support their growth on a global basis, and we look forward to working with the Digital Realty and Brookfield teams to extend our state-of-the-art data center and connectivity solutions to capitalize on the rapidly growing demand within the region," said Christopher Torto.