Compass Datacenters Acquires Root Data Center

Compass Data Centers

Compass Datacenters has acquired Root Data Center for an undisclosed sum of money. This is the company’s first acquisition after recently announcing their plan to develop up to $3 billion in new data center campuses. Root operates two highly energy-efficient data centers in the Greater Montreal, Canada region.

The acquisition of ROOT Data Center would add significant scale to the Compass data center platform complementary to Compass’s core strategy of serving high-growth hyperscale and cloud customers with dedicated facilities delivered on expedited timelines.

Chris Crosby
“We are on track to deliver substantial capacity in some of the fastest growing hyperscale markets across the U.S. and Canada,” said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters.

“Compass now has a foothold in three of the fastest-growing markets in North America – Montreal, Phoenix and Northern Virginia. Montreal, a particularly strong market, is a hub for both enterprise and hyperscale deployments,” said Kelly Morgan, Vice President of Research at The 451 Group. “With this acquisition, Compass immediately becomes one of the top three wholesale providers in Montreal and gains an experienced management team there that can enable continued expansion in the area and beyond.”

Following the acquisition, Compass has the capacity to expand up to 375MW of IT load across its current campuses.

AJ Byers, CEO of ROOT Data Center, who is joining Compass as the company’s President, International, commented, “We are excited to join the Compass team. Our existing customers now have access to strategic U.S. markets, while Compass’s customers benefit from what Montreal brings. In particular, Montreal’s ample fiber capacity and inexpensive supply of renewable power via Hydro-Québec enables cloud/hyperscale companies to achieve their sustainability goals while also growing at the pace necessary to meet demand.”

Data Centers U.S. and Canada

The plan to develop up to $3 billion in new data center campuses included follow-on investments from existing investors RedBird Capital Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, as well as from new investment partner the Azrieli Group Ltd., a leading Israeli real estate development company.

“Our team has been impressed with what A.J. and his team have built and their strong reputation with customers,” said Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters. “We have an exceptional alignment of culture and experienced personnel, emphasizing the use of standardized components and processes to facilitate rapid data center delivery for our customers. At the same time, we are close to completing the first building on our Northern Virginia campus and have begun construction on our Phoenix campus. Overall, we are on track to deliver substantial capacity in some of the fastest growing hyperscale markets across the U.S. and Canada.”