Digital Bridge To Acquire Data Center Firm Yondr Group

Digital infrastructure investment giant DigitalBridge has reached an agreement to buy Yondr Group, a global developer and operator of data centers for Big Tech tenants.

While the terms of the deal weren't immediately disclosed, London-based Yondr would continue to operate as an independent company within DigitalBridge’s portfolio after the transaction closes, the firms announced Monday morning. The companies expect the deal to close early next year. 

Yondr has previously received investment from single-family real estate investment practice Cathexis, Apollo Global Management and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. The company focuses on the hyperscale market, providing huge blocks of data center capacity for the world’s largest tech companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Google.

Yondr has more than 420 megawatts of capacity committed to hyperscalers, with land to support a potential expansion of up to 1 gigawatt, according to DigitalBridge. Much of the firm’s portfolio is outside the U.S., with facilities in multiple markets throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In North America, Yondr operates data centers in Northern Virginia and Toronto. 

DigitalBridge is framing its investment in Yondr as an opportunity to fund the expansion of the hyperscale provider’s global portfolio while accessing steady revenue streams through Yondr’s long-term leases with the credit-grade tech giants driving the global data center boom. 

"Yondr’s assets and strong relationships with leading hyperscale clients align with DigitalBridge’s vision to support the future of digital infrastructure," DigitalBridge Senior Managing Director Jon Mauck said in a written statement. "Yondr enhances our existing data center portfolio and strengthens our ability to support hyperscalers. Together, we are well-positioned to capitalize on the increasing demand for hyperscale data centers – fueled by AI, cloud computing, and the ongoing digital transformation across industries."

The deal is just the latest in an accelerating wave of major investments and M&A transactions across the data center space over the past six months.  DigitalBridge, with more than $84B in digital infrastructure assets under management, has been involved in some of the largest. 

The firm’s acquisition of Yondr comes just days after reports that DigitalBridge is considering selling Brazilian data center firm Scala in a deal that could exceed $2B. Earlier this month, DigitalBridge-backed DataBank completed a $2B equity raise led by a major investment from pension fund AustralianSuper. In one of the biggest investments of the year, DigitalBridge led a $9.2B equity raise by subsidiary Vantage Data Centers in June. 

Overall, the data center merger and acquisition market has risen sharply in 2024, and deal volume could hit record totals. M&A activity reached nearly $40B in the first half alone, exceeding 2023’s total transaction values.