DataBank Raises $533 Million in Debt & Equity to Finance New Data Center Developments

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Nov 28, 2023, 09:00 ET

Capital will fund new and expansion facilities to meet the unprecedented demand for data center capacity being driven by artificial intelligence.

DALLAS, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DataBank, a leading provider of enterprise-class edge colocation, interconnection, and managed cloud services, announced today that it has raised $533 million of capital through a combination of debt and equity to fund the construction of new data centers and meet the fast-growing need for capacity driven by the rise of artificial intelligence applications.

The financing consists of two separate transactions: $188M in equity raised from existing and new investors, and a $345M construction loan for a new data center being developed in the Atlanta market.

Of the $188M equity raise, $138M came from existing investors in a pre-emptive rights offering and the remaining $50M of the equity was provided by new equity investors. The $345M loan was provided for the construction of DataBank's new ATL4 facility, a single-tenant, fully leased data center located about 20 minutes outside downtown Atlanta and expected to open in Q3 2024. Once this facility has been completed, DataBank will secure 100% load-following renewable power through Georgia Power's solar-based Renewable Energy Certificates. This supports DataBank's company-wide goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

First Citizens, MUFG, and CoBank acted as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Bookrunners for the debt transaction with First Citizens as the administrative agent. Jones Day served as legal counsel. The financing was completed with attractive terms including a favorable loan-to-cost ratio.

"This new financing will allow us to continue bringing important capacity to market to meet extremely high demand for data center space and power," said Kevin Ooley, DataBank's President & CFO. "The favorable loan terms, and the pre-emptive rights participation of existing equity investors so soon after our recapitalization, reflect the ongoing confidence of our investment partners and their willingness to seize the growth opportunity of the A.I. era ahead of us."

The $533M in financing announced today follows the $350M credit facility announced in March, and the $715M in secured notes announced in April, for a total of almost $1.6B in financing announced in 2023 alone. This comes on the heels of DataBank's $2.2B recapitalization led by SwissLife Asset Management which was completed just a year ago. Today's announcement also comes just 2 weeks after DataBank acquired 85 acres of land for a new campus in Culpeper VA and just one month after it announced the purchase of 95 acres of land for a new campus in the Atlanta market.

About DataBank
Recognized by Deloitte as one of the fastest-growing private U.S. companies in 2023, DataBank enables the world's largest enterprises, technology, and content providers to consistently deploy and manage their infrastructure, applications and data on the right platform, at the right time, in the right place. Our colocation and edge infrastructure footprint consists of 65+ data centers and 20 interconnection hubs in 27+ markets, on-ramps to an ecosystem of cloud providers, and a modular edge data center platform with virtually unlimited reach. We combine these platforms with contract portability, managed security, compliance enablement, hands-on support, and a guarantee of 100% uptime availability, to give our customers absolute confidence in their IT infrastructure and the power to create a limitless digital future for their business.

SOURCE DataBank