Merger Creates National Data Center Provider

Fortune Data Centers and the Dallas Infomart have merged, combining resources and assets into a single company that will operate as Infomart Data Centers. The merger creates a national player with presence in some of the largest markets under a moniker that reflects one of the most famous technology buildings in the country, the Dallas Infomart.

The company also announced it is opening a fourth data center in Ashburn, Virginia, next year. It recently bought the facility from AOL, which also used it as a data center.

ASB Real Estate Fund wholly owns both companies, so there are no buildings changing hands. Combined, the company will operate 2.2 million square feet of wholesale data center and office space. It has more than 100 megawatts of available power across in Dallas, Ashburn, San Jose, California, and Hillsboro, Oregon. Fortune management team will lead the company.

ASB is a $5 billion real estate investment trust that is part of Washington, D.C.-based ASB Capital Management, one of America’s oldest and largest institutional money management firms.

The Informart is one of the largest, most interconnected buildings in the country. With more than 1.6 million square feet of space, it is home to major colocation providers, including Equinix (the largest tenant), ViaWest, Cologix and NTT America, to name a few.

“Five years ago, it was about being a trusted provider with a good track record -- now those are table stakes,” John Sheputis, formerly CEO of Fortune and now CEO of Infomart, said. “What’s happening is, I’m seeing more RFPs (Requests For Proposals) asking ‘where else are you?’ and ‘can you grow with me?' This is driven by the changing nature of market demand. This is a nationally-branded, consistent service across geographies.”

The company is planning to bring its new data center in Ashburn’s data center alley online in 2015. It plans to upgrade power infrastructure at the former AOL facility for higher densities.

“Hats off to the people who designed it,” said Sheputis. “If you’ve been in that market for a while, there are a few people that made data center alley what it is, and AOL was one. It’s a beautiful, well-engineered building, but density is low. We will do a substantial renovation to increase energy density.”

Fortune's data centers are in San Jose and Hillsboro, just outside of Portland. The Hillsboro area is known as Silicon Forest due to its high concentration of technology companies.

“Our customers wanted us in more locations and now we are in four of the most important markets in the country,” said Sheputis.