QTS QTS Realty Trust Inc

By Micah Maidenberg

Blackstone Group Inc. said Monday several of its ventures agreed to purchase QTS Realty Trust for $78 a share in cash, a $6.7 billion deal that would take the data-center operator private.

The Wall Street Journal reported the proposed transaction earlier Monday.

Including debt, the deal has a value of about $10 billion, the companies said.

The Blackstone ventures buying QTS, which has more than 7 million square feet of data center space in North America and in Europe, include Blackstone Infrastructure Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc.

"QTS aligns with one of Blackstone's highest conviction themes--data proliferation--and the required investment makes it well suited as a long-term holding for our perpetual capital vehicles," said Greg Blank, senior managing director at Blackstone Infrastructure Partners.

Shares of QTS were up 21% in pre-market trading Monday.

Under the merger agreement, QTS will have a so-called go-shop period that lasts 40 days, the companies said. During that time, the data-center company can solicit and consider alternative acquisition proposals.

"We are confident this transaction is the right step to achieve our strategic objectives in our next phase of growth," QTS Chief Executive Chad Williams said about the deal with Blackstone.

The merger between Blackstone and QTS is expected to be completed during the second half of the year.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2021 08:38 ET (12:38 GMT)

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