KKR, Global Infrastructure Partners to acquire CyrusOne for $15bn

KKR, Global Infrastructure Partners to acquire CyrusOne for $15bn

KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) are acquiring CyrusOne, a global data center REIT, for $15 billion.

CyrusOne Monday announced a definitive agreement pursuant to which KKR and GIP will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of CyrusOne for $90.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $15 billion, including the assumption of debt.

”The $90.50 per share purchase price reflects a premium of approximately 25% to CyrusOne’s unaffected closing stock price on September 27, 2021, the last full trading day prior to published market speculation regarding a potential sale of the company,” said the company in a statement.

Upon completion of the transaction, CyrusOne will be a privately held company wholly owned by KKR and GIP and CyrusOne’s common stock will no longer be listed on any public market, according to the statement.

“This transaction is a testament to the tremendous work by the entire CyrusOne team. We have built one of the world’s leading data center companies with a presence across key U.S. and international markets supporting our customers’ mission-critical digital infrastructure requirements while creating significant value for our stockholders,” said Dave Ferdman, Co-Founder and interim President and Chief Executive Officer of CyrusOne.

“KKR and GIP will provide substantial additional resources and expertise to accelerate our global expansion and help us deliver the timely and reliable solutions at scale that our customers value,” he added.

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of a robust strategic review process conducted by the CyrusOne Board of Directors to determine the best path forward for the company and maximize stockholder value,” said Lynn Wentworth, Chair of the CyrusOne Board of Directors. “This transaction provides CyrusOne stockholders with significant value and simultaneously positions the Company to even better serve its customers to meet their needs in key markets around the world.”

“CyrusOne has built one of the strongest data center companies in the world and has a strong track record of development and operational expertise in addition to delivering best-in-class service to its customers. We are excited to work together with the Company’s proven team to build on CyrusOne’s market leadership and support their customers’ growing data center infrastructure requirements,” said Waldemar Szlezak, Managing Director at KKR, and Will Brilliant, Partner at GIP.

“We see numerous opportunities ahead to continue expanding CyrusOne’s footprint across key global digital gateway markets and look forward to leveraging our global resources, access to long term capital and deep expertise to support the company’s growth.”

The transaction, which was unanimously approved by the CyrusOne board of directors, is not subject to a financing condition and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.