Digital Realty to Acquire 424 Acres in Loudoun County, Virginia

Strengthens Leading Position in Top-Tier Data Center Market

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Sep 24, 2018, 06:32 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today it has reached an agreement to acquire 424 acres of undeveloped land in Loudoun County, Virginia for a total purchase price of $236.5 million, or approximately $558,000 per acre. The site is adjacent to Washington Dulles International Airport and located near bulk transmission lines as well as a major fiber path.

The site is also located less than four miles from Digital Realty's existing data center campuses in Ashburn, Virginia. Commencement of development will be subject to market demand, and delivery will be phased to meet future customer growth requirements upon build-out and lease-up of the company's existing Ashburn campus capacity.

"We are pleased to expand our footprint and strengthen our position in Northern Virginia, the largest and most important data center market in the world," said Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein. "Customers are looking for long-term commitment, along with the flexibility to support their deployments and connection nodes, as well as the ability to land and expand within the same location – all of which align perfectly with our Connected Campus™ strategy."

Digital Realty Senior Vice President of Acquisitions Michael Darragh added, "We have leased more than 100 megawatts of capacity in Northern Virginia over the past 12 months, and we continue to see broad-based demand going forward. This land acquisition provides the foundation for Digital Realty's next phase of growth in Northern Virginia and will enable us to continue to support years of customer expansion, while broadening our positive impact on the local economy."

This acquisition builds upon Digital Realty's investment in Northern Virginia, where it has maintained a meaningful presence since 2007. Over the past six years, Digital Realty has invested approximately $1.3 billion in new development and currently employs over 160 full-time employees in Northern Virginia. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

About Digital Realty
Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and interconnection strategies of more than 2,300 firms across its secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, and consumer products. www.digitalrealty.com

For Additional Information
Andrew P. Power
Chief Financial Officer
Digital Realty
(415) 738-6500

Investor Relations
John J. Stewart / Maria S. Lukens
Digital Realty
(415) 738-6500
[email protected]

Media Inquiries
John Christiansen / Scott Lindlaw / Lindsay Andrews
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
(415) 618-8750

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to our acquisition in Loudoun County, VA and the benefits and importance of, and our expected growth in, Northern Virginia. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: reduced demand for data centers or decreases in information technology spending; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; the suitability of our data centers and data center infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity or availability of power, or failures or breaches of our physical and information security infrastructure or services; our dependence upon significant customers, bankruptcy or insolvency of a major customer or a significant number of smaller customers, or defaults on or non-renewal of leases by customers; breaches of our obligations or restrictions under our contracts with our customers; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space, and delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; the impact of current global and local economic, credit and market conditions; our inability to retain data center space that we lease or sublease from third parties; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to realize the intended benefits from, or disruptions to our plans and operations or unknown or contingent liabilities related to, our recent acquisitions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing, and our dependence on external sources of capital; financial market fluctuations and changes in foreign currency exchange rates; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to, including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges and goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges; our inability to manage our growth effectively; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; environmental liabilities and risks related to natural disasters; our inability to comply with rules and regulations applicable to our company; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; our operating partnership's failure to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; and changes in local, state, federal and international laws and regulations, including related to taxation, real estate and zoning laws, and increases in real property tax rates. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2018 and June 30, 2018. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Digital Realty