Ontario Teachers and BIP to buy Compass Datacenters in $5.5bn deal

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, an existing investor in Compass Datacenters, has teamed up with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) to buy the data centre business.

Ontario Teachers’ and NYSE-listed BIP have agreed to acquire Compass from RedBird Capital Partners and the Azrieli Group.

According to sources, the deal gives Compass an enterprise value of around $5.5bn (€5.04bn).

Compass designs and constructs data centers across the globe. The new ownership structure will provide the company with “continued strong operational and financial support to execute its sustainable and large-scale data-center campuses across multiple regions,” the companies said in a joint statement.

Following the closing of the deal, expected by year-end, the founder and CEO of Compass, Chris Crosby and the company’s management team will continue to lead the business.

Sam Pollock, CEO of Brookfield Infrastructure, said: “Digitalisation remains a key thematic investment for Brookfield Infrastructure. The need for data storage continues to grow at an exponential rate across the globe, and Compass complements our existing platforms in South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

“Compass is a best-in-class data-centre platform that we have known for years and we are excited to partner with Chris, the Compass team, and Ontario Teachers’ to support Compass on its rapid growth journey.”

Ashvin Malkani, senior MD, technology group, private capital at Ontario Teachers’, said: “With the acceleration of technology adoption and advent of emerging technologies such as generative AI, we expect that demand for world-class and sustainable data centres will continue to grow in the coming years.

“We are pleased to welcome our longstanding partner Brookfield Infrastructure as a co-controlling shareholder in Compass.”

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