Last month, the wholesale data center developer, owner, and operator EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure closed a $440 million round of funding.
The funds will accelerate the development of the company's Silicon Valley data center campus.
This transaction follows the $1.9 billion debt financing announced by EdgeCore in January 2024, conducted with its owner, Partners Group, a global private market firm, who acquired the data center developer in 2022.
Transaction Details
EdgeCore’s new $440 million financing comprises a limited-recourse senior secured term loan.
The transaction's coordinating Lead Arrangers and Book Runners were MUFG Bank, Ltd., ING Capital LLC, and First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company.
MUFG Bank, Ltd. served as the Administrative Agent, and ING Capital LLC was the sole Green Loan Structuring Agent.
Davis Polk Watson served as the borrower/sponsor’s counsel, and Milbank served as the underwriter’s counsel.
Supporting EdgeCore’s focus on utilizing sustainable construction, operations and business practices, both debt financing transactions secured by the company in 2024 have been structured as Green Loans.
This structuring is in alignment with the latest Green Loan Principles as published by the Loan Market Association, Asia Pacific Loan Market Association and the Loan Syndications & Trading Association, and with ING Capital LLC as the sole Green Loan Structuring Agent.
Time of Expansion
The past year has been a time of expansion for EdgeCore Digital.
In January 2023, EdgeCore broke ground on its campus in capacity and power-constrained Santa Clara and has made progress on the first data center and campus substation.
When the Santa Clara site is fully built out, EdgeCore’s LEED-designed campus will be capable of supporting 72 MW of critical load and will be engineered to meet customer requirements across 540,000 square feet of space.
Beginning in 2024, Silicon Valley Power will provide utility power.
"Continuing the pace of rapid growth and development EdgeCore established in 2023, we leveraged the template set by our debt financing announced in January to close the $440 million transaction quickly we closed,” said Julie Brewer, EVP of Finance, EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure.
Brewer added, “This funding will be put to immediate use in our Silicon Valley market to meet the critical capacity needs of hyperscale customers searching for single tenant data centers built to accommodate high-density space and power requirements.”
Leverage and Extend
A big focus of EdgeCore’s owner Partners Group is to enhance its presence in the data center market.
After EdgeCore was acquired by Partners in 2022, the company put forth a plan to invest up to $1.2 billion to fund the acquisition and buildout of existing and future data center sites.
In October 2023, EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure introduced a new brand to reflect its business strategy.
Since the beginning of 2023, EdgeCore has begun actively developing or expanding its data center campuses in Silicon Valley, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Reno, Nevada. It has also announced the purchase of new land for development in Ashburn, Virginia.
In 2024, EdgeCore plans to invest another $600 million into new regions located in areas with a combination of land and near-term power availability suitable for supporting up to three sites with a minimum capacity of 300 MVA each.
Designed for AI Density
DCF Ed. Note -- As previously noted by DCF, with its new motto of “Designed for Density,” EdgeCore is now focused on creating larger campuses with a new data center layout optimized for high-density cooling to support AI workloads.
“The new EdgeCore is born in the age of AI,” said Lee Kestler, who joined the company as CEO in March of 2023, in reporting last year by DCF's Rich Miller. “We've just refocused the company. We're going to build the 300 MVA campuses or bigger, and we will expand into new markets.”
EdgeCore has also updated its data center design, with buildings that start at 36 megawatts, divided across three data halls and at least two stories.
The design can be expanded to support buildings from 72 to 144 megawatts, based on the campus and customer requirements.
Importantly, EdgeCore said that, going forward, will design its sites to support higher power densities, expecting customers to run at densities of 30 kW to 40 kW per rack.
EdgeCore's Chief Commercial Officer, Clint Heiden, remarked:
“Since being acquired by Partners Group, we have retooled our data center designs and made the capital commitments necessary to provide the high-density power required by companies seeking to support artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technology. This updated strategy will enable us to deliver our customers the certainty of execution they require in a trusted partner.”
Partners Group sees huge opportunity in AI and its potential to boost demand for digital infrastructure. Prior to buying EdgeCore, it acquired atNorth, which operates nearly 100 MW of capacity in Iceland, all supported by renewable energy. -- MV
This article originally appeared in a slightly different format at DCF's Endeavor Business Media sibling publication, Lightwave.
EdgeCore Chief Development Officer Brett Rogers Brings Deep Data Center Expertise
This February, EdgeCore announced the appointment of Brett Rogers to serve as Chief Development Officer.
With 25 years of experience building data center teams and programs that have delivered over three gigawatts of global critical infrastructure, Rogers' expertise will ensure EdgeCore data center developments are constructed on time, within budget and with the highest standards of excellence, as stated by the company.
In the role, Rogers will be responsible for evolving EdgeCore's end-to-end delivery capability and helping to shape product offerings across the company's overall data center portfolio.
Prior to joining EdgeCore, Rogers spent three years working in multiple capacities for a private equity firm, including as CEO of KatalystDI, a supply chain technology firm, as well as supporting data center development and contracting companies across their portfolio.
From 2015 through 2021, he served as Director, Infrastructure Delivery at Google, leading the design and construction business in the Americas and scaling the organization from 200 MW to more than a gigawatt annually.
Earlier in his career, Rogers worked for Tesla where he stood up the company's initial Gigafactory design and construction program.
"Brett joins EdgeCore at a pivotal time in our company's growth and we look forward to the value his expertise will add towards accomplishing our goal of delivering high-density data centers," said Lee Kestler, CEO, EdgeCore.
Kestler noted, "Having worked on some of the largest hyperscale development projects in the country, Brett is uniquely capable of understanding the nuances our customers' requirements entail."
Rogers commented, "The management team that EdgeCore has put in place combined with the financial support from Partners Group makes this such an exciting opportunity. Our industry is entering a period of growth that is going to be challenging, but also represents a significant opportunity. EdgeCore is poised to be a significant player and I look forward to helping the company scale."
-- Matt Vincent
