GI Partners has completed the acquisition of Des Moines-based colocation provider LightEdge. LightEdge operates seven data centers in Kansas City, Des Moines, Raleigh, Austin, and Omaha. Anschutz Corporation has owned the majority of the firm since 2018. CEO of LightEdge, Jim Masterson, said he’s very proud of what the Company has achieved with its owners over the years. He added that the Company had known GI Partners for a year, and he’s confident that GI Partners is the perfect investment partner to help propel the Company to the next level.
LightEdge was founded in 1996, and it provides Disaster Recovery offerings, private and bare-metal cloud services. On the other hand, GI Partners was founded in 2001, and it deals in real estate, private equity, and data infrastructure.
DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LightEdge, a leading provider of colocation, cloud and managed service solutions, based in Des Moines, today announced that GI Partners, a leading private investment firm, has acquired a controlling interest in the business. GI Partners' investment will support and accelerate the growth of LightEdge.
GI Partners has invested extensively in infrastructure companies and properties underpinning the digital economy for 20 years. GI Partners is acquiring LightEdge through its GI Data Infrastructure Fund which was launched last year and manages over $1.8 billion of capital commitments.
"I am very proud of what we accomplished together with our owners, The Anschutz Corporation, over the years. We never took our eye off the vision for this company and Anschutz supported us the entire journey. We got to know the GI Partners organization over the last year, and I believe we found the perfect investment partner to help take our company to the next level," said Jim Masterson, CEO of LightEdge.
"Over the last several years, LightEdge has emerged as a leading platform for colocation and cloud and managed services, particularly in the Midwest region. The Company has a proven model for delivering excellent service to enterprise customers in an increasingly complex hybrid-cloud world. We look forward to partnering with Jim and the LightEdge team to realize their vision for growth in the business," said Mark Prybutok, Managing Director of GI Partners.
LightEdge operates seven data centers in Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha, Austin and Raleigh. LightEdge has been majority-owned by The Anschutz Corporation since 2008.
"The acquisition reflects the tremendous value that LightEdge has built over the past 14 years and it was important for us to find the right investment organization to take LightEdge to the next growth phase of the company. GI Partners is the perfect hand-off and we have no doubt the future remains bright for the entire LightEdge team and its customers," said Augie Cruciotti, Managing Director at The Anschutz Investment Company.
Paul Hastings acted as legal counsel to GI Partners. Bank Street Group LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to LightEdge and The Anschutz Corporation, and Hogan Lovells acted as legal counsel.
