The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has acquired a 40 percent stake in DigitalBridge subsidiary Landmark Dividend LLC.
Terms were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2024.
Landmark Dividend is a real estate and infrastructure acquisition and development company focused on digital infrastructure including data centers and wireless communications. The stake was acquired by a wholly-owned subsidiary of ADIA, a UAE sovereign wealth fund.
The companies said the investment includes a “significant commitment” from ADIA and DigitalBridge-sponsored vehicles to support Landmark’s expansion.
Khadem AlRemeithi, executive director of the infrastructure department at ADIA, said: “Under DigitalBridge’s ownership, Landmark has solidified its position as one of the pre-eminent acquirers of digital infrastructure real estate assets globally. The company has already built a portfolio of high quality real assets, and our investment aims to support Landmark’s next phase of growth.”
DigitalBridge (then Digital Colony) acquired Landmark in May 2021. It has acquired dozens of data centers across the US.
Steven Sonnenstein, senior managing director at DigitalBridge and chairman of the board at Landmark, said: “ADIA’s investment in Landmark is testament to the company's long-term potential and attractive position in the market, and we are delighted to partner with ADIA to further fuel Landmark’s growth. We are proud of the reputation Landmark has built for excellence in infrastructure and real estate investment, and we look forward to creating more opportunities for Landmark’s clients and stakeholders.”
Tim Brazy, Landmark Dividend CEO, added: “We welcome ADIA to Landmark. This investment marks an exciting new phase of growth for our business. With the support of our new stakeholder, alongside DigitalBridge, we are well-prepared to strengthen our position and offer our clients a broader spectrum of top-tier investment solutions.”
DigitalBridge Q3 results and DBP fund III close
DigitalBridge also announced its Q3 2023 results this week. The company posted revenues of $477 million, GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders of $262 million.
“We delivered a solid third quarter, anchored by strong year-over-year revenue growth in our investment management platform and contributions from the DataBank recapitalization,” said DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi. “DataBank not only generated great returns and capital back to shareholders, [but] its deconsolidation from our financial statements also de-levered the balance sheet and advanced our simplification initiatives.”
During the earnings call the company said it expects to sell a portion of its ownership interest in Vantage SDC – which holds stabilized Vantage data centers – in the near future. The company is talking to “multiple parties” about a stake sale.
“We want to sell down $60 million of our position,” Ganzi said. “And the key is also not just to sell down the 60, but also to continue to introduce new capital into Vantage SDC.”
“Vantage SDC is a growth vehicle. As we continue to develop some of the best public cloud campuses in the US, we want Vantage SDC to keep growing.”
Ganzi also talked up DigitalBridge’s Credit efforts, noting it was part of a financing deal for GPU-cloud provider CoreWeave. Ganzi said his company had a pipeline of more than 60 loans in the works.
“We can't stress enough how big the private credit opportunity is in data centers, but also in fiber and towers as well,” he said.
Infrastructure Investor reports the end of October saw the first close of DigitalBridge Partners III; DigitalBridge’s third flagship fund. The fund closed with $2.2 billion; it was first launched in June 2022 with a target of $8 billion. The company is continuing to raise funds for DBP III.
In the earnings call, Ganzi said DBP III has had 23 investors sign up so far, but expects to attract 80-120 at final close. He said 100 percent of the investors in DBP II have said they will commit to the next fund, even if not all of them have closed yet.
