New platform to acquire and develop data center real estate assets across North America and Europe with a focus on high quality markets, infrastructure, connectivity, tenants, talent and sustainability enhancement opportunities
Strategic Capital Fund Management, LLC (“Strategic Capital”), an investment management organization focused on digital economy investments, has announced the formation of a data center investment platform, Strategic Datasphere, LLC (“Datasphere”), in partnership with a seasoned management team led by Bryan Marsh, a senior industry executive formerly with Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR) and Head of Data Centers at Strategic Capital, and certain funds and accounts managed by a large, global institutional fixed income manager.
Datasphere will be focused on the acquisition, development and management of fully and partially stabilized data center facilities, including through sale-leaseback transactions with leading technology, communications, cloud, enterprise and public sector tenants. Datasphere will seek to deploy capital strategically across North America and Europe to develop a diversified portfolio of high quality assets and tenants.
Datasphere will be led by Bryan Marsh, who has approximately 40 years of commercial real estate experience and previously served as Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR) with responsibility over approximately 8 million square feet of data center real estate valued at approximately $5 billion across its U.S. Central Region. The Datasphere management team features more than 65 years of complex commercial and data center real estate experience across the full lifecycle of acquisitions, developments, leasing, operations and divestitures, which collectively reflect more than $35 billion of assets transacted and managed.
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Datasphere has received initial commitments of up to $500 million of equity capital from its U.S. based investment partner, which is expected to support more than $1.5 billion of data center investments, and may be supplemented with additional equity commitments over time.
“Data centers are a critical component of the broader digital infrastructure ecosystem that is supporting an accelerated demand for online and mobile platforms for consumers and businesses alike. These real estate assets have proven their resiliency as essential infrastructure throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and we believe next-generation technologies like 5G, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and more will create long-term sustainable growth in the sector. We are excited to partner with a high-quality institutional investor who shares our vision for this dynamic asset class,” said Jim Condon, Managing Partner at Strategic Capital.
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“We are ecstatic to embark on our mission at Datasphere to serve as long-term stewards for the data center assets we acquire and develop, for the tenant customer relationships that reside within the facilities, for the employees that build and manage these assets, and for the environment through sustainable and renewable practices,” said Bryan Marsh, Chief Executive Officer at Datasphere.
Barclays Capital Inc. and PJ Solomon Securities, LLC served as financial advisors and placement agents to Strategic Capital on the transaction, while Morrison & Foerster LLP and Barnett Bolt Kirkwood Long Koche & Foster, P.A. served as legal counsel.
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