CyrusOne To Be Acquired, Taken Private By KKR, GIP For $15B

“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,” said CyrusOne interim President and CEO Dave Ferdman.

As private equity continues its takeover of the data center market, CyrusOne said today that the data center operator will be acquired by global investment firms KKR and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a whopping $15 billion.

Once acquired, the private equity firms plan to take the Dallas-Texas based real estate data center specialist private, with CyrusOne’s stock no longer being listed on any public markets

For years, rumors of CyrusOne potentially being acquired by either private equity or data center giants like Digital Realty have circulated as various leadership changes at the company raised eyebrows. On Monday, CyrusOne announced that KKR and GIP will acquire all of the company’s outstand shares of common stock for $90.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $15 billion.

“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 CEO of CyrusOne in a statement. “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.”

[Related: McAfee’s Cybersecurity Private Equity Takeover: 6 Things To Know]

The $15 billion deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

KKR and GIP executives said in a statement that the investment firms plan to “continue expanding” CyrusOne’s footprint across key global digital gateway markets. “[We] look forward to leveraging our global resources, access to long term capital and deep expertise to support the Company’s growth,” said the private equity firms in a statement.

CyrusOne operates over 50 data centers across the globe with around 1,000 customers, including 200 of the Fortune 1,000 companies.

The data center specialist provides colocation, hyperscale, and build-to-suit environments that help customers enhance the connection of their essential data infrastructure and achievement of sustainability goals.

The acquisition comes just months after CyrusOne CEO Bruce Duncan abruptly left the company. In August, CyrusOne’s board of directors said it had “separated” from Duncan as CEO, along with his resignation as a company director—approximately just one year after he was selected to lead the company.

CyrusOne generated $285 million in revenue during its recent second quarter of 2021 (ended June 30), up 11 percent year over year. Net income, however, fell 84 percent year over year to $7 million in the second quarter of 2021.

CyrusOne’s stock is trading up 3 percent today at $85.45 per share.