Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets, today announced that it has executed definitive documentation with American Tower (NYSE:AMT) subsidiary CoreSite to form a new joint venture (“CoreSite DevCo JV”) to develop, construct, and operate an 18 megawatt (“MW”) data center in Denver, Colorado (“DE3”), with CoreSite operating DE3. Stonepeak is expected to hold 85% of the equity of the CoreSite DevCo JV, with CoreSite holding the remaining 15% ownership interest. The investment is being made primarily through the Stonepeak Opportunities Fund, which targets both control and structured capital solutions across North America and Europe.
American Tower operates a leading North American interconnection-focused data center platform through its investment in CoreSite, in which Stonepeak holds a minority interest having invested in the platform in 2022. CoreSite operates 28 facilities across 11 U.S. markets and has built an established presence in the growing Denver market over the past decade, operating the primary carrier hotel in this key interconnection hub. DE3 is a new, 18 MW purpose-built data center to be constructed on a modular basis over three 6 MW phases, for a total estimated development cost of over $250 million. The campus will be situated on owned land in downtown Denver, located less than 3.5 miles from CoreSite’s existing DE1 and DE2 facilities, and will be the third data center asset in CoreSite’s Denver platform once constructed.
Andrew Thomas, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak, said, “We are excited to continue our long-term partnership with the American Tower and CoreSite teams to help accelerate investment behind key digitalization tailwinds. We believe the CoreSite DevCo JV will immediately benefit from CoreSite’s leading interconnection platform in the fast-growing Denver market through dedicated dark fiber to CoreSite’s existing facilities, which provides DE3 customers with differentiated access to an established ecosystem on Day 1.”
Steven Vondran, American Tower’s President and Chief Executive Officer, added, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Stonepeak in our U.S. data center platform, with the formation of a new joint venture to construct a new data center in the growing Denver market. The CoreSite DevCo JV enables us to strategically execute on key growth opportunities by expanding our data center campus model in the region and create value by capitalizing on demand tailwinds as the primary interconnection hub in Denver.”
Sidley Austin LLP is serving as legal advisor to Stonepeak. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is serving as legal advisor to American Tower, who is also being advised by Sullivan & Worcester LLP with respect to certain REIT and tax matters.
