DigitalBridge and IFM Buying Data Center Company Switch for $11 Billion
Posted on 05/11/2022
Switch, Inc. (NYSE: SWCH) entered into a definitive agreement with DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG), under which DigitalBridge Partners II, the value-added digital infrastructure equity strategy of the investment management platform of DigitalBridge, and an affiliate of global infrastructure investor IFM Investors will acquire all outstanding common shares of Switch for $34.25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately US$ 11 billion, including the assumption of debt.
Rob Roy is the Founder of Switch. Switch is in exascale data center ecosystems, edge data center designs, and telecommunications solutions. Switch was one of the largest remaining publicly-traded data center firms. Switch went public in 2017.
The transaction, which was unanimously approved by a special committee of the Switch Board of Directors, is expected to close in the second half of 2022. The transaction is subject to approval by Switch stockholders and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the transaction, Switch will no longer be traded or listed on any public securities exchange.
In 2021, Colony Capital sold off most of its non-digital assets and rebranded as DigitalBridge.
Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Switch, and Latham & Watkins LLP acted as its legal counsel. RBC Capital Markets, LLC served as lead financial advisor and TD Securities served as co-advisor to DigitalBridge and IFM, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as their legal counsel. Debt financing for the transaction was led by TD Securities along with Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Lead Bookrunners Societe Generale, RBC Capital Markets, and Citizens Bank, N.A.
Render Networks Deal
IFM Investors’ private equity Growth Fund has acquired a majority stake in Denver-based Render Networks, a global provider of construction management Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions for builders and operators of telecommunications networks. IFM Investors paid A$ 40 million for the investment. Among Render’s clients are fiber network utility operators such as Strata Networks, SpringNet and First Electric Co-operative in the U.S, and Wessex Internet in the U.K. They also service construction contractors and turn-key project managers, such as Irby Utilities and The Broadband Group in the U.S. The company was co-founded in 2013 by Dan Flemming, former head of construction at NBN Australia, and Joe Forbes of Biarri, a commercial mathematics incubator of B2B SaaS solutions. IFM was advised by PWC, Gilbert & Tobin and Altman Solon.