Data Center Firm Rowan Explores Capital Raising or Sale
The Takeaway
- Rowan Digital Infrastructure explores capital raise or sale
- Deal could value data center developer at $10 billion
- Potential buyers include Wren House Infrastructure
A spike of investor interest in the data center sector has prompted one major data center developer, Rowan Digital Infrastructure, to consider whether this is a good time to raise fresh capital or possibly even sell, say people familiar with the company’s thinking.
If it were to raise money or sell, it would likely be valued at more than $10 billion, including its debt, the people said. Potential buyers include investment firm Wren House Infrastructure, a U.K.-based arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, one of the people said.
Demand for new data centers is prompting heavy investment in the sector, both in construction of new facilities and in acquisition of existing operators, including those such as Rowan that historically have focused on non-AI data centers. In October, for instance, an investor consortium including BlackRock and Abu Dhabi’s MGX agreed to buy one of the largest data center operators in the U.S. at a $40 billion valuation, including debt.
Rowan, which is owned by U.K. private equity firm Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, is working with investment bankers to evaluate its options, some of the people said.
Companies such as Rowan and Aligned typically have developed data centers for traditional computing and aren’t pursuing the kind of large-scale facilities startups such as Crusoe, Applied Digital and CoreWeave are developing for AI customers like OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta Platforms.
While valuations for AI-focused data center developers have exploded in recent years, some potential buyers see more mature developers as a better investment.
Rowan builds data centers in the Americas, including U.S. campuses in Texas, Oregon and Maryland. It has raised $3.1 billion in debt from banks including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Groups for building three campuses within TPG’s Quantum Frederick Park in Maryland.
Rowan’s projects in the U.S. total more than 1.5 gigawatts data center capacity, according to its website. In comparison, Aligned says on its website that it has 5 GW of operational and planned capacity across 50 campuses.