TierPoint Enters Chicago Data Center Market With AlteredScale Acquisition

TierPoint has acquired Chicago data center provider AlteredScale, gaining its first data center in the important Chicago market. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TierPoint, a St. Louis, Missouri-based data center rollup, has been buying small providers in secondary markets on an aggressive schedule. AlteredScale is its tenth acquisition.

TierPoint’s biggest deal to date was acquisition of the data center business of the Arkansas-based telco Windstream for $575 million, announced in October. The deal closed this month, bringing the size of TierPoint’s data center portfolio, including AlteredScale, to 525,000 square feet across 19 US markets.

The company’s CEO Jerry Kent said it is stepping into Chicago in response to demand by its existing customers.

“This acquisition was precipitated by significant customer interest in TierPoint expanding to Chicago, and we have already begun installing the infrastructure for a long-term major client,” he said in a statement. “It’s a great market, top ten in tech startups, and I believe our focus on providing unrivaled service and local support will be well received in Chicago.”

AlteredScale’s building is more than 100,000 square feet but has only 25,000 square feet of data center space. According to TierPoint, AlteredScale has made a lot of renovations and upgrades in the building since it bought it in 2011.

TierPoint started in 2010 as Cequel Data Centers, following the ownership group’s acquisition of data center provider Colo4. After Cequel acquired a smaller provider called TierPoint in 2012, they renamed the company to TierPoint.

In 2014, the company was acquired by its management team and a group of additional investors with the goal of expanding it further, primarily through acquisitions in underserved regional markets.