Brookfield to Buy Cyxtera Data Center Properties in $775m Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Brookfield Infrastructure Partners will acquire most of the assets of bankrupt data center firm Cyxtera Technologies Inc. for $775 million, adding new holdings in a key area of focus for the alternative asset manager. 

The Toronto-based firm signed a deal to buy the real estate at which seven of Cyxtera’s US data centers are located from several landlords, according to a statement Wednesday. The transaction, which was previously reported by Bloomberg, includes Brookfield buying assets from Digital Realty Trust Inc. and Digital Core REIT. 

Brookfield Infrastructure has been building its data center holdings with recent acquisitions of European firm Data4 and Compass Datacenters. It acquired the latter in partnership with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $5.5 billion. 

“This agreement and the changes to the data center portfolio, most importantly our increased facility ownership, will enable us to build on our business momentum and better position Cyxtera for the future,” Cyxtera Chief Executive Officer Nelson Fonseca said in the statement. 

Separately, Cyxtera agreed to sell its business in its Montreal and Vancouver data centers to Cologix Inc.  

Cyxtera filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June as it sought new financing. The company was formed in 2017 after CenturyLink’s data center and co-location business was combined with Medina Capital’s security and data analytics operations. In 2021, Cyxtera merged with a black-check firm in a deal valuing the combined company at about $3.4 billion on an enterprise basis.