Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) has made a $185 million investment into data center, cloud, and connectivity services provider, Databank, through the purchase of secondary equity interests from existing investors Edgewater Funds and Allstate.

DataBank operates 20 data centers in 9 US markets, including Dallas, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Indianapolis.

The transaction represents Colony Capital’s inaugural direct balance sheet investment in digital real estate and its first step in investing in the edge/colocation data center sector.

Justin Chang
“We look forward to supporting the business with additional capital to fund potential add-on acquisitions and greenfield edge data center developments,” said Justin Chang, Colony Capital’s Global Head of Private Equity. “

“We are thrilled to be partnering with DataBank, its management team and investor group, to continue building the premier edge/colocation data center platform in the United States,” said Justin Chang, Colony Capital‘s Global Head of Private Equity. “We look forward to supporting the business with additional capital to fund potential add-on acquisitions and greenfield edge data center developments.”

Allstate will retain 50%of its interests and continue as a DataBank investor, while Edgewater will fully exit from its position. Nuveen will also continue as an important investor in DataBank, holding its original stake. Edgewater’s Board Member will step down and be replaced by Justin Chang.

“We are truly appreciative of the support we have received from Edgewater over these last four years,” said Raul K. Martynek, CEO of DataBank. “We look forward to having Colony Capital and its long-term investment vision behind DataBank as we continue to grow our platform.”

Colony Capital