Stonepeak acquires data centre developer

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners has acquired a majority interest in a data centre developer for an undisclosed amount.

The investment in Colorado-based Cologix is Stonepeak's latest push into the US market for communications infrastructure, this time for a company that builds data centres to back up cloud computing. Cologix's data centres also provide its customers, major network providers, a physical area to connect online through fibre optic cables.

The asset manager did not disclose the price of its majority stake in Cologix, but Stonepeak provided an additional $500 million of growth capital. Last week, The Wall Street Journal valued the company at $1.25 billion.

The company operates 24 data centres across the US and provides network operation and cloud computing. Its customers include network providers, cloud providers, media companies, financial companies and enterprises.

According to Stonepeak co-founder Michael Dorrell, investing in communications infrastructure is not new, but there is strong growth right now in infrastructure that stores internet data.

“Communications infrastructure is a really interesting sector because the underlying driver of revenues is data usage, and data usage is growing at exponential rates,” Dorrell told Infrastructure Investor. “There's no other infrastructure sector out there that has that strong a growth profile as the communications space.”

Cologix's existing management team will continue to run the business, the firm said in a statement.

Stonepeak, headquartered in New York, has stakes in two other communications companies including Extenet Systems, a wireless internet provider, and Vertical Bridge, which manages wireless telecommunication assets.

Dorrell said that Stonepeak aims to be opportunistic in the infrastructure space, but he also noted there is growing interest among investors for data centre providers like Cologix.

“We always try to go to where the puck will be rather than where the puck is,” he added. “It's clear more and more infrastructure funds are taking data centres seriously, although it's early.”

Stonepeak manages around $6.4 billion of investor capital. Its portfolio comprises companies in the energy, power, transportation, utilities, water and communications sectors.