Banking giant Goldman Sachs has agreed to invest $500M in Global Compute Infrastructure, a new entity formed jointly by Goldman Sachs and longtime data center executive Scott Peterson. The New York-based investment bank will take the stake through its merchant banking division, it said.
Peterson, founder and former chief investment officer of data company Digital Realty, will take the helm as CEO of Global Compute. Peterson has over 18 years of data center industry experience and over 30 years in real estate investments. During his four-year tenure at Digital Realty, he was responsible for $17B in total deal volume, including M&A and organic development.
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Global Compute said in a statement that it plans to grow its footprint through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth. Goldman Sachs’ $500M in investment is expected to enable roughly $1.5B in near-term investments across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
“We see a tremendous opportunity in the data center space driven by increasing computing and storage demand and we believe the Global Compute team, backed by the global resources of Goldman Sachs, is uniquely positioned to deliver world-class solutions to meet that demand,” Goldman Sachs Managing Director Leonard Seevers said.
Peterson is joined by other alumni of Digital Realty, including Digital Realty co-founder Christopher Kenney, who joins Global Compute as chief operating officer; and Stephen Taylor, a former Digital Realty executive who joins Global Compute as head of Europe.
Alongside the Goldman Sachs announcement, Digital Compute also announced its purchase of ATM S.A., a leading data center and communications infrastructure business based in Poland, which it described as an attractive entry point into Europe. Digital Compute made the purchase as part of a consortium of funds managed by MCI Capital and Mezzanine Management.
“Our combined global pedigrees and networks, together with [Goldman Sachs’] access to ample growth capital, will allow the Global Compute platform to not only serve the critical needs of our customers around the world, but also create and unlock value for our partners,” Peterson added. “Our initial investment in ATM S.A. is an ideal illustration of this collaboration. We are extremely enthusiastic about our partnership with Goldman Sachs enabling us to provide creative solutions for our global customers.”
As demand for storage and computing grows, investors are showing more interest in data center infrastructure. Digital Realty, and other data center REITs, have outpaced the broader market in 2020. Digital Realty’s stock is up roughly 30% year to date, compared to a decline of 1% in the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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