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CyrusOne Up for Sale?

CyrusOne is exploring a potential company sale, but there's no guarantee the data center REIT (real estate investment trust) will be acquired, according to Reuters.

CyrusOne emphasizes the speed, scalability and reliability of its data centers and cloud services. Security messaging is part of the broader reliability mandate.

CyrusOne, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has more than 50 data centers globally. The company's market capitalization is roughly $9 billion. This is the second time since February 2020 that CyrusOne company sale rumors have popped up.

CyrusOne: Mixed Growth Plus CEO Churn

CyrusOne revenue was $284.6 million in Q2 of 2021, up 11 percent from Q2 of 2020. Translation: The data center provider is generally growing less quickly than numerous rivals. Amid the company's additional challenges: Recent CEO churn, as documented in this timeline:

  • February 2020: Tesh Durvasula was named interim CEO, succeeding long-time CEO Gary Wojtaszek (2011 to February 2020).
  • June 29, 2020: Bruce Duncan was named CEO, succeeding interim CEO Tesh Durvasula.
  • July 28, 2021: Bruce Duncan exited the business and founder David Ferdman was named interim CEO. No reason was given for the change.

    • Apparently, Ferdman may now be positioning CyrusOne for a business sale, and Morgan Stanley is assisting the exploratory process.

    CyrusOne: Potential Strategic and Private Equity Buyers

    Multiple private equity firms and strategic buyers have experience acquiring data center, co-location and network connectivity businesses. Among the potential suitors and business combinations to watch:

    • Blackstone, for instance, acquired data center provider QTS Realty Trust for $10 billion in June 2021.
    • Cologix, which is backed by private equity firm Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.
    • Cyxtetra, a data center provider that merged with a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) called Starboard Value Acquisition in February 2021. Cyxtera formed in 2017 when CenturyLink sold off its data center and colocation business.
    • Datasphere, backed by Strategic Capital Fund Management, is seeking to acquire data centers across North America and Europe -- though the company's $1.5 billion war chest may not be large enough to target CyrusOne.
    • Digital Realty, which operates more than 290 data centers across 24 countries...

      • Data center merger and acquisition activity has remained steady, according to ChannelE2E’s ongoing coverage.

      Joe Panettieri

      Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.

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