Data Centers
Related ProfessionalsOverview
Kirkland has industry leading experience handling the entire ecosystem of data center and adjacent industry transactions. Our attorneys have practiced in the industry since its inception, leading many of the foundational deals that have shaped its evolution. In the last five years alone, our lawyers have advised more than 140 unique sponsors and developers on over 450 data center transactions and are uniquely positioned to bring together leading and award-winning practice groups to create a holistic and integrated platform across all digital infrastructure asset classes and across all legal disciplines.
We partner with clients to develop unique products that push the market. Our digital infrastructure practice has been structured to reflect our clients’ needs, seamlessly integrating the experience of both real estate and infrastructure professionals.
Our global multidisciplinary team offers a comprehensive range of services essential to every phase of investing in, owning, developing, managing or operating data center and ancillary assets, including:
M&A/Private Equity
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Equity Investments
- Joint Ventures (YieldCos, DevCos, PowerCos)
- Private Fund Formation, Continuation Funds and Secondary Transactions
- Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions
Financing
- Asset-Backed Securities (ABS) and Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) Financing
- Bespoke Project Finance/Real Estate Finance Financing Arrangements (Development and Letter of Credit Facilities)
- Corporate Debt Financing
- Green Bonds and Sustainability-Linked Loans
Project Development
- Construction Agreements
- Data Center Leases and Service Agreements
- Power Supply Agreements
- Environmental Permitting
ESG & EHS
Regulatory Filings & Compliance Programs
Technology & IP Transactions/IP Enforcement and Defense
Experience
Recent Transformation Transactions Include:
Blue Owl AI Data Center Joint Venture and Financing: Blue Owl on the closing of a $15 billion joint venture with Crusoe Energy Systems to fund the development of a 1.2-gigawatt AI data center campus comprised of eight buildings containing a total of 32 data halls and including 300 MW of on-site power generation, located in Abilene, Texas. The campus is 100% long-term leased to a Fortune 100 hyperscaler tenant. The project is financed with four separate real estate construction loans totaling $9.4 billion of proceeds.
Take-Private of CyrusOne: KKR, and an acquiring consortium including Global Infrastructure Partners, in the $15 billion acquisition of CyrusOne Inc., a data center REIT.
Take-Private of AirTrunk: CPP Investments, as part of a consortium led by Blackstone, in the $16.1 billion take-private of AirTrunk, a hyperscale data center specialist creating a platform for cloud, content and large enterprise customers across the Asia-Pacific & Japan region, from Macquarie Asset Management and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
xScale Program Expansion Joint Venture: GIC in its $15 billion joint venture with Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) and CPP Investments to capitalize, acquire and develop a U.S. centric digital infrastructure platform. Driven by increasing artificial intelligence and cloud growth, the JV is intended to accelerate the Equinix xScale data center portfolio by purchasing land to build new state-of-the-art xScale facilities on multiple greater-than-100-megawatt campuses in the U.S.
CoreWeave Debt Financing: CoreWeave, the AI hyperscaler, in its $7.5 billion debt financing facility led by Blackstone, with participation from Magnetar (co-lead investor) and Coatue. Participation in the financing also included CDPQ, DigitalBridge Credit and BlackRock. The new financing will be used to further develop CoreWeave’s growing fleet of high-performance compute to execute existing contracts with leading enterprise customers and AI innovators.
Digital Infrastructure Legal Advisor by Volume & Data Center Deal of the Year (Cumulus)
TMT M&A USA Awards, 2024
Transaction of the Year: Digital Infrastructure Acquisition, North America
IJ Investor Americas Awards, 2024
Loan Deal of the Year: CyrusOne Take-Private Financing
IFLR Americas Awards, 2023