DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG) today announced that its operating company, DigitalBridge Operating Company, LLC, through certain of its subsidiaries (collectively “DigitalBridge”) has completed its transaction to acquire AMP Capital’s global infrastructure equity investment management business, which has been rebranded as InfraBridge in a transaction valued at $316 million, plus potential contingent payments based on certain future performance thresholds.*
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InfraBridge, comprises four investment funds with $5.6 billion in fee-earning assets under management, including the $3.4 billion Global Infrastructure Fund II (“GIF II”) and $1.4 billion Global Infrastructure Fund I (“GIF I”). InfraBridge will operate as a new, autonomous business unit within the DigitalBridge investment management platform, with its operations and strategy supported by DigitalBridge’s industry-leading team of digital infrastructure professionals.
Damian Stanley, previously Global Co-Head, Value-Added Infrastructure Equity at AMP Capital, will serve as Managing Partner of InfraBridge. Mr. Stanley has been an instrumental and respected leader since joining AMP Capital in 2015 and has led numerous key transactions across the GIF platform. In addition, Bernardo Vargas Gibsone, who joined DigitalBridge’s leadership team in September 2022 after serving as CEO of ISA Group, has been appointed Non-Executive Chair of InfraBridge.
“We are pleased to welcome to DigitalBridge an experienced, high-caliber investment team that shares our focus on generating attractive, long-term, risk-adjusted returns for our investors,” said Marc Ganzi, Chief Executive Officer of DigitalBridge. “InfraBridge complements our “full-stack” investment platform, positioning DigitalBridge to capitalize on high-return mid-market investment opportunities. Further, the acquisition immediately contributes significant earnings and further advances DigitalBridge’s strategic roadmap towards an asset-light, high-growth asset manager serving secular growth markets.”
“We are excited to be joining DigitalBridge, a respected leader in the global infrastructure space, to continue expanding our infrastructure mandate throughout the mid-market.” said Mr. Stanley. “We share DigitalBridge’s vision to deliver long-term stable returns by allocating capital and building value at the portfolio company level and look forward to benefiting from a group with vast institutional knowledge to help accelerate our growth.”
“I’m looking forward to working with this extremely talented team, led by Damian, to maximize the value of InfraBridge’s high-quality portfolio of existing investments and further refine its investment strategy, as well as continuing to expand DigitalBridge’s capital base,” said Mr. Vargas Gibsone.
The transaction consideration of $316 million is comprised of $141 million upfront cash payment for the investment management platform, $127 million for the assumption of previously funded sponsor investments, and $48 million for rights to embedded carried interest in GIF I and GIF II, subject to post-closing adjustments.
Additional information regarding the transaction is contained in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by DigitalBridge with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 22, 2022.
About Damian Stanley
Mr. Stanley has over 25 years of professional experience across equity investment, asset management and financial advisory. He has extensive experience in infrastructure and real assets, including across transport/logistics, digital infrastructure, energy and social sectors. Mr. Stanley joined AMP Capital in 2015 and has held leadership positions, including Senior Manager of AMP Capital Investors (UK) Limited, Global Co-Head Value-Added Infrastructure Equity and Head of Infrastructure Equity Asia & CEO Singapore Office, among others. Prior to AMP Capital, he held positions at Whitehelm Capital, Morgan Stanley, Macquarie Infrastructure, PWC and Commerzbank. Mr. Stanley holds a BS in Mathematics from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
About Bernardo Vargas Gibsone
Mr. Vargas has more than three decades of experience in investment banking, real estate and infrastructure investing. He most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Interconexion Electrica S.A. E.S.P. (ISA Group), a publicly traded, diversified infrastructure operator with interests in energy transmission, road concessions, and digital infrastructure, from 2015 to 2022. Prior to ISA, Mr. Vargas spent 14 years as founding partner of Nogal Asesorias Financieras, an investment banking advisory boutique in Colombia specializing in local and cross-border M&A. Earlier in his career, he served as President and CEO of the merged operations of Barings and ING Colombia. Mr. Vargas holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BA and MS in Economics from Universidad de Los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia.
About InfraBridge
InfraBridge is a leading infrastructure investment manager dedicated to investing in mid-market businesses in transportation and logistics, digital infrastructure and energy transition, among other key sectors. The firm’s investment strategy applies private equity rigor with an active approach to asset management in order to maximize value and drive returns on behalf of investors. Formerly AMP Capital’s international infrastructure equity business, InfraBridge is now a division of DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG), a leading global digital infrastructure firm managing a $50 billion portfolio of digital infrastructure assets on behalf of its investors. InfraBridge is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
For more information visit: www.infrabridge.com.
About DigitalBridge Group, Inc.
DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) is a leading global digital infrastructure firm. With a heritage of over 25 years investing in and operating businesses across the digital ecosystem including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages a $50 billion portfolio of digital infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and shareholders. Headquartered in Boca Raton, DigitalBridge has key offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Singapore. For more information, visit: www.digitalbridge.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” or “potential” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, and may cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that might cause such a difference include, whether DigitalBridge will realize any of the anticipated benefits from the transaction, whether the acquired funds will realize returns and the acquired business will continue to grow at the rate anticipated, and other risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in DigitalBridge’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022, June 30, 2022, and September 30, 2022, and its other reports filed from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements reflect DigitalBridge’s good faith beliefs, assumptions and expectations, but they are not guarantees of future performance. DigitalBridge cautions investors not to unduly rely on any forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. DigitalBridge is under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, nor to conform prior statements to actual results or revised expectations, and DigitalBridge does not intend to do so.
*Assumes FX Rate AUD/USD 0.7133, as of February 1, 2023
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