Blackstone has agreed to take data centre operator QTS Realty Trust private in a $10bn cash deal, looking to profit from the rapid digitalisation of data.
The $78 per share deal represents a 24% premium to the volume weighted average share price over the last 90 days. QTS has seen a steady up trend in its stock prices despite a tumble in the 2018 financial crisis. The share price has almost doubled from its 2018 low of $33.37 to $63.38 just before the deal was announced.
The buyout is being carried out through Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, and other long-term perpetual capital vehicles managed by the firm.
Greg Blank, senior managing director at Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, said, “We are delighted to back QTS and its world-class management team as they continue to scale the company to meet the rising demand for data centers.
“QTS aligns with one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes – data proliferation – and the required investment makes it well suited as a long-term holding for our perpetual capital vehicles. We are committed to a strong, lasting partnership, leveraging Blackstone’s scale, reach, resources and access to capital to drive long-term growth at QTS.”
Tyler Henritze, head of acquisitions Americas for Blackstone Real Estate, added, “”We are focused on investing in assets that are benefitting from strong, secular tailwinds, such as the rapid digitalization of data. QTS is a leading provider of data center solutions with a portfolio of high-quality assets in desirable markets, positioning it well to capitalize on these powerful trends in the data center space.”
Blackstone has completed a series of fundraising in the past year. It hit an $8bn final close for its biggest ever real estate debt fund last September, and raised $8.2bn for its long-hold private equity fund a month after.
The firm closed its debut infrastructure fund on $14bn in 2019.
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