2021 has been an eventful year in the data center industry as we’ve seen some major merger and acquisition activities as these firms look to expand their capacities.
We are going to shine the spotlight on the top five merger and acquisition activities in Q2 of 2021. We’ll be able to see which data center companies or facilities are now under different control due to mergers or acquisitions.
Probably the biggest news of 2021 so far in the merger and acquisition space as Blackstone agreed to acquire QTS Realty Trust for $6.7 billion. Earlier in June, the board of directors at QTS unanimously agreed to Blackstone’s offer of paying $78 for each QTS share. The total amount agreed to be paid amounted to $6.7 billion.
Sila Realty Trust is exiting the data center business by selling all its 29 data centers in the US to Mapletree for $1.3 billion. This is also not Mapletree’s first acquisition in the US as the Company has acquired a few data centers from Bank of America and Digital Realty in the past.
One interesting acquisition completed in Q2 of 2021 was Switch acquiring Data Foundry in an all-cash transaction. Switch taking over Data Foundry's three highly connected data centers in Austin for $420 million was another acquisition that we can't help but talk about. The facilities have a combined capacity of 44MW with a potential of 62MW upon full buildout. Aside from the data centers Switch added to its portfolio, the acquisition also sees the company adding over 400 logos to its customer list.
Brazil-based data center firm also made an investment in June by acquiring Algar Tech’s data center and colocation business in Campinas near Sao Polo for $183 million. The facility in question has the potential of having 100MW upon full buildout.
In a bid to expand its footprint in Moscow, MTS acquired GreenBush’s data center in the city for RUB 5.2 billion ($70.8 billion). The facility has the potential of having 19MW and 56,1000 sq ft of capacity and floor space respectively upon full buildout. As one of the biggest data center firms in Russia, MTS has been able to strike a balance between acquiring attractive assets and building out modular data centers.
