US data center firm Aligned is to acquire Latin American operator Odata.

The company this week announced the execution of a definitive agreement to acquire Odata from Patria Investments and other selling stakeholders.

Aligned, majority owned by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management, has also entered into a definitive agreement to receive a structured minority investment in Odata from funds managed by SDC Capital Partners.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed, but previous reports valued Odata at around R$10 billion (US$1.8bn). The transaction is being funded by Aligned alongside a preferred equity investment from funds managed by SDC.

“The acquisition combines a significant growth runway for expansion and a proven ability to deliver capacity at maximum speed, with regional expertise and partnerships, enhanced fiscal resources, and a resilient supply chain, to deliver a world-class data center platform that meets the demands of our global hyperscale and enterprise customers,” said Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned Data Centers. “We’re excited to welcome Ricardo and the Odata team to the Aligned fold and look forward to fostering our joint commitments to customer centricity and operational excellence as we embark on the next phase of innovation and growth.”

Founded in 2015 by Brazilian private equity firm Patria Investments and based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Odata offers colocation services from three data centers in Brazil and one each in Colombia and Mexico. The company has started construction on a facility in Chile, is developing a new building in Rio de Janeiro, and is expanding its campus in Sao Paulo.

At the launch of its first Mexican facility earlier this year, the company said it will begin construction of a second 30MW data center in Querétaro in the future, and is also targeting Peru as its next market, though it didn’t disclose timelines.

“The Odata team and I are very excited to be joining Aligned Data Centers,” adds Ricardo Alário, CEO of Odata. “The strategic merger of the Odata and Aligned platforms will provide customers with a broader base of both available and expansion capacity in key locations across the Americas, as well as additional breadth of experience and depth of knowledge across an expanded team of infrastructure experts. We look forward to accelerating the growth of our platform with Aligned and setting a successful cultural course focused on customer and staff centricity, innovation, and operational excellence.”

Odata was majority-owned by Patria via its Fundo Pátria Infraestrutura IV, with CyrusOne owning a stake in the company; it's unclear whether today’s deal includes CyrusOne’s stake.

Reports that Patria was considering a sale of the company surfaced in April of this year, with CyrusOne rumored at the time to be the frontrunner to acquire the company. Previous reports also suggest that DigitalBridge’s Scala looked at buying Odata, but ‘did not accept the price‘ of the company.

“Odata is an exceptional platform created by Patria Investments seven years ago in the fast-growing data center market. We are proud to see that the company rapidly evolved from a startup to one of the leading players in the Latin American market, serving the most prominent cloud providers in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico,” added Felipe Pinto, Infrastructure Partner at Patria Investments.

Currently, Aligned only operates in the US and doesn't have a history of acquisitions, with self-developed campuses in Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah; Northern Virginia; and one in development in Maryland.

Founded in 2017, SDC Capital Partners is a private equity firm based in New York and focused on digital infrastructure. Its investments include Sentinel Data Centers, Latin American operator Ascenty, a number of fiber firms, and Arcadia Towers.

Outside of Aligned, Macquarie Asset Management has investments in a number of digital infrastructure firms, including Virtus, AirTrunk, and NTT.

SMBC, MUFG (as co-structuring coordinators), Deutsche Bank, and Nomura acted as joint lead arrangers for the newly committed debt financing for this transaction.

Guggenheim Securities and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as financial co-advisors to Aligned, and Vinson & Elkins LLP is serving as its legal counsel. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal advisor to SDC Capital Partners and Paul Hastings LLP is serving as legal advisor to the joint lead arrangers. DH Capital, LLC, a division of Citizens, and Evercore Group L.L.C. are acting as financial advisors to Patria Investments, and Proskauer Rose LLP is serving as its legal counsel. Pinheiro Neto Advogados is serving as Odata’s legal counsel.