Canada's Manulife Investment Management has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Israeli data centers owner and operator Serverfarm. The investment by Manulife, together with support from existing shareholders, will provide capital to Serverfarm to continue its expansion across North America, Europe, and Israel to capitalize on attractive market opportunities.
Serverfarm currently operates a portfolio of eight data centers across North America, Europe and Israel with more than 1.5 million square feet and 125MW of IT capacity, and it has secured additional land for future data center developments.
No financial details about the deal were disclosed but "Globes" understands that Serverfarm will receive $600-700 million for its shares at a company valuation of $1.5 billion. Serverfarm is owned by the Papouchado family's Red Sea Group, best known for the European hotel chain it owns through Park Plaza Hotels Ltd. (LSE: PPHE).
Serverfarm founder and CEO Avner Papouchado said, "Partnering with Manulife Investment Management, an investor that shares Serverfarm's vision for growth and customer service, will allow us to effectively address the next wave of demand from our existing and new customers. Our new relationship with Manulife Investment Management provides Serverfarm with additional expertise and new capital to execute on a number of attractive development opportunities and give our customers a long-term growth runway."
Manulife Investment Management global head of infrastructure Recep Kendircioglu added, "Avner and the Serverfarm team have built a high-quality data center portfolio and growth platform that is well-positioned to capitalize on the strong secular tailwinds in the data center market. We are excited about the company's future and our ability to support Serverfarm through its next phase of growth on behalf of our clients."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 21, 2023.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.