CyrusOne Inc. (NASDAQ: CONE) (the “Company” or “CyrusOne”) today announced the completion of its acquisition by funds managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm, and Global Infrastructure Partners (“GIP”), one of the world’s leading infrastructure investors, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $15 billion, including the assumption of debt (the “Transaction”). The Company also announced, effective today, that trading of its shares of common stock has been suspended on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”), and that CyrusOne has requested that its common stock be delisted from Nasdaq.
“Closing this transaction begins an exciting new chapter for CyrusOne as we continue our global expansion with the benefit of significant resources and expertise that KKR and GIP are able to provide to the Company and its customers,” said Dave Ferdman, Co-Founder and President and Chief Executive Officer of CyrusOne. “We are very well positioned to capitalize on the acceleration in growth opportunities driven by strong underlying secular demand trends and create substantial value for all of our stakeholders.”
“We see significant opportunity ahead for CyrusOne to build on its market leading position and impressive track record of delivering state of the art data center solutions around the globe, at a time when the world is increasingly dependent on them, at a rapid pace,” said Waldemar Szlezak, Partner at KKR. “We look forward to leveraging our global experience investing behind digital infrastructure to, together with GIP, support CyrusOne’s continued growth, and are excited to get started.”
Will Brilliant, Partner at GIP, added, “Secular growth in data consumption globally has created tremendous opportunity for skilled data center developers and operators to provide critical infrastructure for their customers, including the world’s leading technology companies. GIP is excited to partner with CyrusOne’s management team and KKR, bringing our experience and deep resources as a leading infrastructure investor and operator to support CyrusOne’s differentiated global platform, which is well-positioned to continue its strong momentum and to unlock significant additional potential under its new sponsorship.”
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and DH Capital, LLC acted as financial advisors to CyrusOne, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Venable LLP and Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP acted as its legal counsel.
Goldman Sachs & Co., Barclays, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisors to KKR and GIP, with KKR Capital Markets leading the structuring on the financing. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Dentons (UK & Europe) acted as legal counsel to the acquiring consortium and KKR, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal counsel to GIP.
CyrusOne also announced that in connection with the completion of the Transaction, it has notified the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC of its intention to voluntarily delist its 1.450% Senior Notes due 2027 (the “Notes”), as well as to deregister the Notes from registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.