Equistone portfolio company TIMETOACT GROUP acquires JOIN(+) and further expands its expertise in Big Data & AI

Equistone

TIMETOACT GROUP, a leading provider of IT services for upper medium-sized companies, corporations and public institutions, is acquiring JOIN(+), an experienced German IT consulting service specialised in Big Data & AI. The partnership marks TIMETOACT GROUP’s third acquisition in the past twelve months and tenth overall since the Equistone funds acquired a majority stake in the business.

TIMETOACT GROUP, headquartered in Cologne, comprises specialised IT companies across 30 locations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as in Latvia, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, Hungary and the USA. With over 1,350 employees and a comprehensive portfolio of software and consulting services, the digitalisation expert primarily concentrates on medium-sized and large companies from the industrial, financial and service sectors, as well as public institutions.

Funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe acquired a majority stake in the business in June 2021. Since then, TIMETOACT GROUP has successfully pursued a targeted buy-and-build strategy focused on strengthening the group’s service portfolio and accessing new market segments. In February 2024, TIMETOACT GROUP acquired Austrian IT consulting firm Trustbit to form one of the leading digitalisation players in Austria. In November 2024, the group announced the planned acquisition of Hungarian-based EverIT through its portfolio company catworkx, a transaction which will further strengthen its global consulting portfolio. With the acquisition of JOIN(+), TIMETOACT GROUP has achieved another important milestone in its dynamic growth journey and the expansion of its group-wide consulting portfolio.

With offices in Villingen-Schwenningen and Konstanz, Germany, JOIN(+) GmbH is an established IT consulting service provider which has been operating for over 25 years. JOIN(+) acts as a technical consulting and implementation partner to support customers in a range of industries in the DACH region. The company specialises in business analytics, business intelligence, Big Data & AI, and data visualisation, and is able to draw on highly trained employees who work every day to fulfil the company’s mission of focusing on quality, flexibility and trust.

With this transaction, the companies are now joining forces and will be optimally positioned to benefit from important synergy and growth potential, especially through their extensive expertise in the area of Big Data & AI. The managing directors of JOIN(+), Erich Anhut and Jürgen Lutz, will continue to lead the company and oversee the integration of the business into the TIMETOACT GROUP.

“We are becoming part of a strong brand by joining the TIMETOACT GROUP and will benefit from increased efficiency and performance, which will ultimately strengthen our position as a reliable partner in the IT industry. With an expanded portfolio, we are now even better positioned to meet the constantly changing needs of our customers and offer innovative, tailor-made solutions,” commented Erich Anhut, Managing Director of JOIN(+). “The merger also increases stability and planning security for our employees and allows us to offer new development perspectives and exchange opportunities with many international experts,” adds Jürgen Lutz, Managing Director of JOIN(+).

“The acquisition of JOIN(+) is an important step in expanding our Data & AI portfolio. With Erich and Jürgen, we have also gained two highly motivated managers and we are very pleased to be able to further develop the TIMETOACT GROUP together,” says Frank Fuchs, Co-Managing Director of TIMETOACT GROUP.

Felix Binsack, Co-Managing Director of TIMETOACT GROUP, adds: “Through the merger with JOIN(+), we are gaining a highly competent and dynamic team, who perfectly complement the TIMETACT GROUP culturally. The acquisition supports our offering to our customers and gives us broad and cross-manufacturer consulting expertise in the key growth area of Data & AI.”

“TIMETOACT GROUP has been pursuing an ambitious growth strategy since Equistone funds acquired a majority stake back in 2021. The acquisition of JOIN(+) marks another decisive step for the group on its journey towards becoming one of the leading players in the IT consulting sector in the DACH region. TIMETOACT GROUP is not only strengthening its competencies in Big Data & AI, but the merger will also maximise synergies from which both customers and employees will benefit in the long term,” adds Moritz Treude, Director at Equistone Partners Europe’s Munich Office.

Frank Fuchs, Christian Koch and Christian Reifenhäuser are responsible for the transaction on behalf of TIMETOACT GROUP. TIMETOACT GROUP was advised on the transaction by AC CHRISTES & PARTNER (Financial & Tax), de Angelis Rechtsanwälte (Legal) and McDermott Will & Emery Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater (Legal, Antitrust Law). The JOIN(+) shareholders were advised on the transaction by LFK PARTNER (Legal, Financial & Tax) and GROUP BUILDERS HAMBURG (M&A).

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From Product to Platform: Our Continued Investment in Cyera

Accel

From Product to Platform: Our Continued Investment in Cyera

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Erik Sterck eyes further growth with FIELDS partnership

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Fields Group

FIELDS Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of a majority interest in Erik Sterck GmbH (“Erik Sterck”). Erik Sterck is a leading expert in data center environments, cloud-native services and cybersecurity. The aim of the partnership is to build on the successful heritage of Erik Sterck and to expand the business operations in the DACH area. At the same time FIELDS Group will facilitate a strategic alliance with its existing portfolio company TTNL (a specialist in data management in hybrid multi-cloud environments and mission-critical IT Infrastructures), allowing Erik Sterck to resell TTNLs proprietary Hyperplatform and complementary Managed Services in the German-speaking market. For TTNL this marks a further step in its European expansion.

“After a decade of consistent growth, this next step represents an exciting new chap-ter for us. For us, there is no question that together with FIELDS Group and their network we can further expand our business, both geographically but also with regard to our service offering”, says Erik Sterck, Co-Founder & CEO of Erik Sterck.

Oliver Batz, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Erik Sterck, adds: “We are looking forward to this next step. We are convinced that we have found the right partner for the next phase of growth. Especially the alliance with TTNL will allow us to deliver comprehensive cloud solutions, that drive innovation and business transformations across industries.”

André Reitz, Investment Director at FIELDS Group, adds: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Erik Sterck. We are particularly looking forward to support Erik, Oliver and the rest of the Erik Sterck-Team on their journey of expanding the Cloud and Managed Services capabilities, aiming to further manifesting Erik Stercks positioning as trusted advisor for its clients. Also, we are looking forward to bringing the successful Erik Sterck model into new markets within German-speaking Europe.”

 

About Erik Sterck

The owner-managed Erik Sterck GmbH, headquartered in Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, advises companies in the entire data center environment as well as on cloud-native services and cybersecurity. Another focus is on the automation of operations services. From consulting workshops to implementation, Erik Sterck GmbH is available as a contact partner and implements projects in both virtual server environments and container-virtualized environments.

In total, the company supports almost 200 customers from all sectors, primarily in the German SME sector. Erik Sterck GmbH has received numerous awards for its work, most recently Nutanix “Best Technical Partner” (2020), Rubrik Global Award “Cyber Recovery Partner of the Year” (2023) and Arctic Wolf Networks “DACH Partner of the Year” (2024). In addition to its headquarters in Leonberg, the system house is represented throughout Germany with branches in Cologne, Munich and Hamburg.

www.eriksterck.de

 

About FIELDS Group

FIELDS Group is an entrepreneurial hands-on investor focused on developing companies with potential. FIELDS Group invests in companies with headquarters in Benelux and the DACH region and realizes true transformations with its team.

www.fields.nl

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Simplifying Observability for Developers Everywhere: Our Investment in Dash0

Accel

Simplifying Observability for Developers Everywhere: Our Investment in Dash0

Observability – the ability to track the telemetry data that applications produce, such as metrics, logs, and traces – is one of the most powerful tools a developer can have at their disposal, and represents a $50B market opportunity. Analyzing telemetry data helps businesses to improve performance, reliability and user experience, and the launch of OpenTelemetry in 2019 made this even easier by providing universal open-source standards for data measurement. Despite this, OpenTelemetry’s potential is mostly untapped, with legacy observability tools favoring outdated, proprietary data collection methods that cannot be understood by other tools. The result is a poor user experience, data that can’t be contextualized, and high, unpredictable costs based on inconsistent standards.

Mirko Novakovic, Ben Blackmore, Miel Donkers, Marcel Birkner and Michele Mancioppi set out to change this and founded Dash0, the first observability tool that is OpenTelemetry-native. After seeing the opportunity to accelerate the adoption of OpenTelemetry in the software market, Mirko, Ben, Miel, Marcel and Michele built Dash0 from the ground up on top of these standards to empower developers with an observability framework that is easier to install, integrate, and use than legacy alternatives. Users have access to an intuitive UI, thanks to fully-customizable dashboards, while the platform also fully-supports PromQL and Perses, giving developers complete flexibility to query and visualize their observability data in real time. Integrations with Slack, email, and custom webhooks support easy, proactive monitoring and alerting.

Dash0’s OpenTelemetry-native approach means that it is the only observability tool that does not generate proprietary data for its customers, instead providing visibility of vendor-agnostic performance data that is standardized and fully contextualized. This prevents observability costs from spiraling, instead allowing transparent, real-time pricing based on standardized units of observability data generated by Dash0 users. Customers pay Dash0 based on the count of data they send, meaning they know exactly when and how charges are incurred. The Dash0 platform has also been built to prioritize trust and security, and is already SOC 2 Type 2 certified – one of the most rigorous information security standards – and GDPR-compliant, meaning that users’ telemetry data remains completely private.

Since its inception in 2023, Dash0 has already gained impressive momentum. Its team has grown to more than 20 people and early design customers, including catchHR, ChargeTrip and Porsche Digital, have come on board following Dash0’s early beta launch in September. Mirko is also no stranger to the Accel team as he previously founded observability company Instana, which became part of the Accel family following our investment in 2017 and was acquired by IBM in 2020. Back then, it was clear that Mirko was not only an exceptional entrepreneur but a genuine leader in the tech community – not only in Solingen where Instana was founded but globally. We’re delighted to be partnering with Mirko and the Dash0 team on their mission to simplify observability for developers everywhere.

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Bain Capital and Aquila Group Partner to Build a Leading Sustainable Data Centre Platform Across Europe

BainCapital

Bain Capital and Aquila Group Partner to Build a Leading Sustainable Data Centre Platform Across Europe

  • Bain Capital acquires majority share in Aquila Group’s data centre business AQ Compute
  • Together, the partners aim to build a leading European data centre platform
  • AQ Compute is intended to set new standards in sustainable data centre operations

Hamburg, Germany, and London, October 30, 2024 – Bain Capital, one of the world’s leading private, multi-asset alternative investment firms, and Aquila Group, a private investment company and pioneer in sustainable assets, announce a significant partnership in the data centre sector. As part of the cooperation, Bain Capital is acquiring an 80% stake in AQ Compute, the data centre subsidiary of Aquila Group. This strategic alliance, with a targeted multi-billion Euro investment volume, is aimed at significantly accelerating AQ Compute’s plans to develop and operate sustainable data centres for hyperscale and AI customers across Europe.

Founded by Aquila Group in 2020, AQ Compute provides modular and AI-ready data centre and colocation services, primarily powered by clean energy. With significant investment, the company launched its first sustainable data centre near Oslo in 2024, with additional projects underway in Barcelona, Milan and beyond. Bain Capital supports this growth through its capital investment and global expertise in the data centre industry, including its successful development of Bridge Data Centres in Asia. Together, the partners aim to build a leading European data centre platform, utilising clean energy wherever feasible.

Ali Haroon, a Partner at Bain Capital, said: “The European data centre sector presents an attractive market opportunity, driven by robust cloud demand, a need for high-performance computing and AI deployments, and data sovereignty across the region. Through this partnership with Aquila Group, we bring a differentiated, renewable energy angle to tackle the ever-growing power challenges in this critical part of Europe’s infrastructure.”

Rafael Coste Campos, a Managing Director at Bain Capital, added: “We are thrilled to bring our deep European real estate sector expertise and our multi-layered experience growing companies with complex infrastructure services, tenant relationships and talent attraction to AQ Compute. Leveraging our global data centre expertise, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of this ever growing and critically important sector and to build a market leading data centre operation in Europe.”

Michael Huber, a Principal at Bain Capital said: “Having invested more than $1 billion in real estate over the past three years, Bain Capital’s first European investment in data centres means we now have a truly global platform. This investment will benefit from and complement our experience investing in and building one of the largest data centres in Asia – Chindata and backing DC BLOX in the US.”

Roman Rosslenbroich, Co-founder and CEO of Aquila Group, commented: “Through our partnership with Bain Capital, we are well positioned to expand AQ Compute’s capabilities and solidify its role as a key player in Europe’s digital infrastructure. The rapid growth in data demands presents both a challenge and an opportunity — while more data centres are essential, they must be sustainable. Aquila will invest several hundred-million euros alongside Bain Capital’s larger commitment, with Aquila Capital providing co-investments. With our continued 20% stake, we will ensure AQ Compute’s growth aligns with our long-term vision for sustainable infrastructure, leveraging synergies with Aquila Clean Energy, a major developer and independent power producer in the clean energy space.“

Markus Holzer, Chairman of AQ Compute, said: “At AQ Compute, we are uniquely positioned to meet the growing demand for data processing by combining innovative, AI-ready infrastructure with a commitment to sustainability. This partnership with Bain Capital not only accelerates our development pipeline but also allows us to set new standards in sustainable data centre operations across Europe.”

About Bain Capital
Bain Capital is one of the world’s leading private multi-asset alternative investment firms that creates lasting impact for our investors, teams, businesses, and the communities in which we live. Since our founding in 1984, we’ve applied our insight and experience to organically expand into numerous asset classes including private equity, credit, public equity, venture capital, real estate and other strategic areas of focus. The firm has offices on four continents, more than 1,750 employees and approximately $185 billion in assets under management.
To learn more, visit www.baincapital.com.

About Aquila Group
Aquila Group, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is a private investment company managing a diverse portfolio of businesses focused on innovative solutions across various sectors. Since 2001, Aquila Group has been at the forefront of identifying emerging trends and fostering innovation, particularly in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, while actively investing in the development of new ventures. As both an investor and developer, Aquila Group remains dedicated to driving long-term value creation and advancing solutions that contribute to a more sustainable future. Aquila Group’s portfolio spans investment management, industrial clean energy development and independent power production (IPP) across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, as well as ventures in data centres, green logistics and Spanish residential real estate. With over EUR 25 billion in transactions and EUR 15 billion in assets under management, the company has established a solid track record.
With around 700 employees across 19 offices globally, Aquila Group remains committed to avoiding 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents across its portfolio’s lifetime by 2035.
Further information: www.aquila-group.com

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The acquisition of ROITI supports Dataciders to expand its customer base in DACH and reinforces its expertise in the energy & utility sector

Rivean

Next step towards competence expansion and internationalization:

  • By acquiring ROITI, Dataciders expands its customer base within the energy & utility market in the DACH region
  • ROITI strengthens Dataciders’ expertise in the energy sector with a focus on energy trading and risk management systems and adjacent fields
  • Fourth acquisition since Rivean Capital’s entry in January 2024

28 October 2024

Dortmund/Sofia (Bulgaria). With the acquisition of the Bulgaria-based full-service consultancy ROITI, Dataciders further expands its position as a leading provider of Data & AI solutions in the DACH region. ROITI offers end-to-end Data & AI consulting services with a specialized focus on energy trading and risk management (ETRM) systems and adjacent fields.

The acquisition supports Dataciders (i) to further expand its customer base within the energy & utility market in the DACH region and beyond, and (ii) to strengthen its position in the ETRM field.

ROITI brings an experienced team of more than 90 consultants and engineers, primarily serving enterprise customers in Europe, with a focus on Germany and Switzerland. Through its deep expertise with the Endur and Molecule platforms, ROITI also expands Dataciders’ existing technology stack, especially in the field of ETRM.

“The impressive development of ROITI from a small team with deep domain expertise to a leading services provider in energy trading not only demonstrates the company’s successful growth but also reflects the increasing demand for innovative Data & AI solutions in the energy sector. This acquisition underscores our commitment to meet the evolving market requirements and provide tailored solutions that help our clients to enhance their efficiency and remain competitive. At the same time, this growth strategy strengthens our position as a leading provider of Data & AI in an increasingly data-driven environment,” says Dr. Gero Presser, CEO of Dataciders.

Rivean Capital’s buy-and-build strategy

Matthias Wilcken, Senior Partner at Rivean Capital, explains: “The acquisition of ROITI is another consistent step in the buy-and-build strategy for Dataciders. This acquisition strengthens Dataciders’ vertical diversification and further drives the internationalization roadmap through customer base expansion, esp. in Switzerland. We look forward to leveraging further advancing growth opportunities in this dynamic market.”

Strengthening of the market presence

With the acquisition of ROITI, Dataciders expands its presence in the energy & utility sector, a market characterized by significant growth and increasing requirement for energy trading systems. ROITI’s strong customer network, particularly in Germany and Switzerland, complements Dataciders’ international growth strategy in the DACH region. ROITI is headquartered in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, which is also home to Dataciders Catenate BG.

Ventsislav Topuzov, Managing Partner of ROITI, emphasizes: “The merger with Dataciders offers us three key opportunities: access to new and larger clients, access to new competencies, and more possibilities for scaling our business. We can achieve these goals alongside like-minded individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, allowing us to challenge each other and improve together.”

About Rivean Capital
Rivean Capital is a leading European private equity investor for mid-market transactions, active in the DACH region, the Benelux countries, and Italy. Funds advised by Rivean Capital manage over EUR 5 billion in assets. Since its inception in 1982, Rivean has supported more than 250 companies in realizing their growth ambitions and has a strong track record of supporting and scaling successful high-tech businesses with cross-border growth agendas, including footprint expansions and operational excellence trajectories. Headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Rivean Capital also has offices in Brussels, Frankfurt/Main, Milan, and Zug, enabling a strong local presence across key European markets.

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Oakley Capital invests in Assured Data Protection

Oakley

Oakley Capital, a leading pan-European private equity investor, is pleased to announce that Oakley Capital Fund V is investing in Assured Data Protection (‘Assured’), a Managed Services Provider (‘MSP’) focused on Backup, Disaster Recovery and Cyber Resiliency as a Service. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

 

Key facts

PB data managed

120

Expected market growth (5 years)

c.5x

Recurring revenues

c. 100%

Founded in Leeds, UK and Virginia, US in 2016 by serial tech entrepreneur Simon Chappell and four co-founders, Assured uses Rubrik software and Assured’s own proprietary software platform to provide mission-critical backup and disaster recovery services for companies globally. Assured enhances its customers’ cyber resilience by protecting their data and ensuring business continuity, with near-zero server recovery time in the event of a significant IT failure or cyber-attack.

Assured operates in a high growth segment of the disaster recovery space which is expected to expand almost 5x over the next five years, as companies’ data architecture becomes more complex and as the prevalence and severity of cyber threats grows. Rubrik, the technology Assured leverages, provides a next generation software solution that is growing rapidly as it displaces legacy providers.

Cyber Image

Assured has generated consistently high double-digit growth with almost 100% recurring revenues and low customer churn thanks to growing demand for its products and services.

Oakley will support Assured’s management team to capitalise on strong growth in its underlying markets including the US, with a focus on providing the required capital and organisational structures to enable sustained organic growth. Given Assured’s significant hosting infrastructure, this is also an opportunity to leverage Oakley’s extensive hosting experience. The five co-founders including Simon Chappell will remain invested in Assured and will continue to manage the business.

This will be Oakley’s seventh new investment announced or completed in 2024, extending a period of significant activity for the Firm and continuing a strategy of partnering with exceptional founders. It also follows recent investments in software businesses including cybersecurity provider I-TRACING (Fund V), logistics and transport SaaS provider Alerce (Origin I), medical software business Horizons Optical (Origin I) and broadband open access platform vitroconnect (Origin II).

Quote Peter Dubens

This is a rare opportunity to invest behind a proven team that has built a business that will benefit from several structural tailwinds and has an attractive business model that is differentiated and scalable. Assured is an IT services business with strong organic growth and recurring revenues, genuine IP, and led by exceptional founders. We’re pleased to be partnering with Simon and his team as they leverage the significant opportunities in a fast-growing market.

Peter Dubens

Co-Founder and Managing Partner — Oakley Capital

Quote

More and more companies are having to strengthen their IT and data systems in the face of increased cyber and ransomware attacks that can cripple operations. Assured is well-placed to help mitigate these risks as the partner of choice for small and medium-sized enterprises. We were looking for a genuine partner that could help us scale our business and were impressed by Oakley’s track record of helping build €1bn+ global industry leaders and equally the firm’s entrepreneurial ethos and approach. We look forward to working with the team to further strengthen Assured’s market-leading position.

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Hubexo unveils company rebrand and new leadership structure

Stirling Square

Stockholm, 1 October 2024 Byggfakta Group has rebranded as Hubexo, unifying the organisation into a single brand and reaffirming the Firm’s commitment to driving innovation and growth within the global construction industry. While product brands like BCI, NBS, and Vortal will retain their names, they will adopt new visual identities aligned with Hubexo. The reorganisation includes a streamlined leadership structure, with regional Presidents overseeing operations across APAC, Europe, North America, and the UK. CEO Dario Aganovic emphasised the company’s focus on shaping the future of construction with sustainable solutions. Hubexo will focus on its core construction data and software business, with non-construction operations being spun off into a separate entity. The full rebranding is set to be completed by Q2 2025.

A link to the Hubexo announcement can be found here: https://hubexo.com/news/byggfakta-group-becomes-hubexo/

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P95 Acquires Assign DMB, Expanding Data Management and Biostatistics Services

Ampersand

Leuven, Belgium, September 5, 2024 /PR Newswire/ – P95 BV (“P95”), a leading global provider of epidemiology and clinical solutions with a specialty focus on vaccines and infectious diseases, is excited to announce the acquisition of Assign DMB. Founded by current CEO Anton Klingler in 2005, Assign DMB stands at the forefront of clinical research organisations (CROs) in Austria and is renowned for its exceptional clinical data management and biometrics services, particularly in the areas of infectious diseases and vaccines. Backed by Ampersand Capital Partners, a global investment firm with offices in Boston and Amsterdam, P95 is proud to raise the bar in leading innovation and excellence in clinical research globally with this acquisition.

Thomas Verstraeten, CEO of P95 comments, “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Anton and his team to the P95 family. Assign DMB is a world class leader in the areas of data management and biostatistics. By combining forces, we further enhance our capacity to implement both clinical and non-interventional studies, with a continued focus on vaccines and infectious diseases. Like us, Assign DMB has supported studies in various regions worldwide. Our combined global expertise enables us to deliver our services at any location worldwide, including underserved and developing countries.”

Anton Klinger, CEO of Assign DMB adds, “I am delighted to join forces with P95. This acquisition is a significant milestone for Assign DMB, and I am confident that our combined expertise will enable us to deliver even greater value to our clients. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence in clinical research.”

 


 


 

About P95

P95 is a leading global provider of epidemiology and clinical solutions with a specialty focus on vaccines and infectious diseases. Headquartered in Belgium, P95 has regional hub offices in Africa (South Africa), Latin America (Colombia), North America (USA) and Southeast Asia (Thailand). P95’s full-service CRO solutions span 5 continents, with 300 staff and experience across 30 countries. P95 offers a range of high-quality services including clinical trials Phase I-IV, epidemiology and real-world evidence, vaccine development consulting, study start-up and regulatory, clinical monitoring, home nursing, sample management, medical monitoring, pharmacovigilance, data management, biostatistics, medical writing and qualitative research.

About Assign DMB

Assign DMB is one of the leading clinical research organisations in Austria offering a broad range of services for all phases of clinical trials. Based in Innsbruck, Assign DMB has more than 20 years of experience managing clinical studies. Assign DMB’s services are tailored to the sponsors’ individual needs and include data management, biostatistics, and medical writing as well as safety management and medical monitoring.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Ampersand Capital Partners, founded in 1988, is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management, dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit Ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

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Blackstone Announces Agreement to Acquire AirTrunk in a A$24B Transaction

Blackstone

Sydney – September 4, 2024 – Funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, and Blackstone’s private equity strategy for individual investors, along with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”), have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AirTrunk, the leading Asia Pacific data center platform, from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, for an implied enterprise value of over A$24 billion1. This represents Blackstone’s largest investment in the Asia Pacific region. The transaction is subject to approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board.

AirTrunk is the largest data center platform in the Asia Pacific region, with a sizeable presence in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. It has more than 800MW of capacity committed to customers and owns land that can support over 1GW of future growth across the region.

Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, said: “This is Blackstone at its best – leveraging our global platform to capitalize on our highest conviction theme. AirTrunk is another vital step as Blackstone seeks to be the leading digital infrastructure investor in the world across the ecosystem, including data centers, power and related services.”

Sean Klimczak, Global Head of Blackstone Infrastructure and Nadeem Meghji, Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, said: “Digital infrastructure is experiencing unprecedented demand driven by the AI revolution as well as the broader digitization of the economy. Prior to AirTrunk, Blackstone’s portfolio consisted of US$55 billion of data centers including facilities under construction, along with over US$70 billion in prospective pipeline development. We look forward to partnering with the outstanding AirTrunk management team to further accelerate its growth.”

Robin Khuda, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AirTrunk, said: “This transaction evidences the strength of the AirTrunk platform in a strong performing sector as we capture the next wave of growth from cloud services and AI and support the energy transition in Asia Pacific. We look forward to working with Blackstone and CPP Investments and benefitting from their scale capital, sector expertise and valuable network across the various local markets, which will help support the continued expansion of AirTrunk.”

It is expected that there will be approximately US$1 trillion of capital expenditures in the United States over the next five years to build and facilitate new data centers, with another US$1 trillion of capital expenditures outside the United States. Blackstone is capitalizing on this movement as a leading investor globally in data centers. Blackstone has invested in both the debt and equity of other data center companies, including as owner of QTS, the fastest growing data center company in the world, Coreweave and Digital Realty. Blackstone is also focused on addressing the sector’s power needs in many differentiated ways, including as an investor in power and utility companies, such as Invenergy, the largest independent renewables developer in the United States.

Including capital expenditure for committed projects

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than US$1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Blackstone Media Contacts
Mariko Sanchanta
Blackstone
mariko.sanchanta@blackstone.com | +852 3656 7738

Hayley Morris
MorrisBrown Communications Pty Ltd
hayley@morris-brown.com.au | +61 407 789 018

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