Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, today announced the successful closing of its previously announced equity recapitalization of Cologix, the largest private interconnection and hyperscale edge platform in North America. At $3.0 billion in equity value, the transaction represents the largest single asset continuation vehicle raised in digital infrastructure to date. Cologix also completed a $1.65 billion asset-backed securitization earlier this year to support continued growth.
The recapitalization was effectuated as a sale of Cologix by Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund II LP and co-investors (Fund II) to Stonepeak-managed vehicles comprising a combination of existing Fund II investors who have chosen to reinvest in the business in partnership with a number of new third-party investors.
Cyrus Gentry, Managing Director at Stonepeak, said, “We are excited to extend and deepen our partnership with the Cologix team through this transaction and look forward to supporting Bill and team as they continue to build out Cologix’s leading North American interconnection and hyperscale edge platform in the years ahead.”
“With this transaction, we are accelerating our investments to match the growing demand from cloud services and network providers as well as digital enterprises,” added Cologix Chairman and CEO Bill Fathers. “We will build and acquire ScalelogixSM hyperscale edge data centers in current and new markets to complement and expand our network dense digital edge business.”
Cologix is North America’s leading network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company with a carrier-dense ecosystem of more than 600 networks, 300+ cloud providers and 29 onramps across its platform. The company provides colocation and connectivity solutions to more than 1,600 customers through its operations that span 40+ digital edge and Scalelogix hyperscale edge data centers in 11 North American markets. Cologix maintains a strong focus on environmental, social and governance efforts across its business and to date has undertaken various sustainability initiatives, including the use of hydropower, optimizing water usage and installing the most efficient uninterruptible power supplies in the industry.
Fund II acquired a majority stake in Cologix in March of 2017 and subsequently partnered with Mubadala Investment Company (who have exited their position as part of this recapitalization) for an incremental growth capital investment in January 2020. Since 2017, Cologix has invested $1 billion of incremental capital in building out the company’s footprint through various organic and inorganic initiatives.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Stonepeak. RBC Capital Markets, LLC acted as financial advisor to Fund II. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to Stonepeak.
