Selling off desert dirt is the latest move from the worldwide leader in software-defined data centers. Today the company announced a partnership with Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT (CVMC, REIT) who acquired a 100 percent interest in the Phoenix and Scottsdale data centers for $125M. Within this transaction, IO immediately leased back the property and will continue to operate their data center. Tony Wanger, president of IO said this “transaction is aligned with IO’s long-term strategic plan,” and by partnering with CVMC it allows IO to focus on what they do best…operating data centers around the world.
This pairing is right in line with CVMC REIT’s Mission Critical as their main investment strategy surrounds data center and healthcare properties. “We are excited about adding IO to our roster of strong data center tenants in our portfolio and look forward to our continued relationship with them,” said Michael Seton, president and chief investment officer, Carter Validus Advisors, LLC. “The quality of these two assets will be a great addition to our growing portfolio of high quality mission critical assets.”
The Arizona locations weren’t the only centers part of the plan, “IO New Jersey, IO Ohio, and IO Singapore employ a similar financial structure, so this latest transaction was intended to bring consistency across IO’s entire data center portfolio. It was part of our long-term strategic plan,” Wanger said.
With the extra stash of cash on hand, IPO in the crosshairs and Wall Street watching, Wanger shares that this transaction, “is just one example of how IO is managing capital to best support its priorities. It unlocks the value in our real estate, increasing our cash on-hand that can be used to grow our primary business.”
In 2013, IO filed for IPO, and more recently entered into a multimillion-dollar partnership with CenturyLink where they opened a 45,000 square-foot data center at IO’s headquarters and plan to use their Intelligent Control platform.
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