DataBank Refinances with $410M Credit Facility

DataBank, the Dallas-based data center provider that’s been expanding aggressively since it was acquired by investor Digital Bridge last year, has refinanced with a new $410 million credit facility.

Access to more capital will fund the company’s further growth plans as it expands in secondary data center markets and grows its newly launched edge colocation business, leasing data center space in small increments at cell tower sites. DataBank announced the deal Tuesday.

While colocation giants like Equinix and Digital Realty dominate top US data center markets, industry insiders predict a lot of growth in secondary markets, where digital content and cloud service providers need to serve more and more users, making it more economical to store and process data in those markets instead of piping it there from primary hubs over long distances.

DataBank, which started as a provider of colocation services at the former Federal Reserve building downtown Dallas, where customers could get access to many carriers, now also has data centers in Minneapolis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Baltimore.

Putting computing muscle right at cell towers brings the edges of content providers’ networks even closer to their end users, and given extensive cell tower footprint operated by its parent company, DataBank has a strong play in this space, where it competes with Vapor IO and Crown Castle, as well as an even more recent newcomer: EdgeMicro.

Related:Meet Digital Bridge, a New Consolidator in the US Data Center Market

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, RBC Capital Markets, and TD Securities were joint lead arrangers and bookrunners for DataBank’s new credit facility; SunTrust Bank served as administrative agent, and AB Private Credit Investors led the second lien facility.