General Atlantic buys Actis to create $96bn asset manager

Growth equity firm General Atlantic plans to acquire sustainable infrastructure investor Actis.

The deal will create a global investment platform with approximately $96 billion in combined assets under management. Actis has large stakes in a number of data center projects.

Chayora-announces-completion-of-the-first-of-nine-data-centre-facilities-1.jpg
– Chayora Holdings Limited
Actis currently has around $12.5bn in assets under management, and will become the sustainable infrastructure arm within General Atlantic’s global investment platform. Company head Torbjorn Caesar will continue to run the business.

Caesar said: “The combined firm brings together distinct but highly complementary strategies that unlock long-term value for our investors across key structural themes including the energy transition and digital transition. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

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Actis is a major investor in Chinese hyperscale data center operator Chayora, has a majority stake in Nigerian operator Rack Centre, and last year acquired 11 data centers in Latin America and the US from Nabiax.

The company also has significant investments in energy infrastructure and real estate.

New owner General Atlantic has not made any significant data center investments in recent years, after acquiring a minority stake in developer Aceco TI back in 2012. Prior to that, it invested in QTS – since acquired by BlackStone – in 2009 and 2010.

“Addressing the global paradigm shift toward sustainability requires an economic transformation and a capital investment on a massive scale,” Bill Ford, General Atlantic CEO, said.

“With the addition of Actis, we are taking a significant step forward to add a sustainable investment capability which positions General Atlantic to capture this opportunity set for our investors.”

source: Data Centre Dynamics

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