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An Atlanta-based data center developer may be getting a big investment from Down Under.
Australia-based Macquarie Group Ltd. is in final talks to buy a majority stake in T5 Data Centers, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources. The deal, expected to be announced as soon as this week, could push the valuation of Atlanta-based T5 to $800M, sources told Bloomberg.
The sale — fronted by Iron Point Partners — needs approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. T5 owns and operates data centers around the globe, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Ireland and two in Atlanta.
The Macquarie deal for T5 would be the latest in a strengthening trend of merger-and-acquisition activity in the data center universe. Last year, 48 deals totaling $20B occurred, exceeding all the transactions in both 2015 and 2016, including Digital Realty's $7.6B acquisition of DuPont Fabros and Equinix's $3.3B buy of Verizon's data center portfolio, according to a recent JLL report. This year alone, Equinix reached an $800M agreement to buy Metronode and Iron Mountain is set to spend $1.3B to buy IO's North American operations.
“Heading into 2018, foreign data center companies’ interest and action in entering the U.S. data center market will accelerate as international enterprises and providers look to build a footprint for U.S. customers,” JLL officials said in the report.
According to Bloomberg, institutional investors like Macquarie have been pumping money into data centers due to their stable cash flows.
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