Tonaquint Data Centers, an investee company of DIF Capital Partners (DIF), has expanded its portfolio by acquiring EdgeX Data Centers (EdgeX).
This addition integrates another data centre into Tonaquint’s established sites in Boise, Idaho, and St. George, Utah. With this acquisition, the company has entered the thriving Oklahoma City market and adjoining regions, further strengthening its diverse portfolio.
DIF acquired Tonaquint in December 2022 through its DIF’s core-plus CIF III fund, which focuses on mall- and mid-sized core-plus infrastructure companies around the world, targeting mid-term contracted cash flows with a modest risk profile that offers attractive returns for our investors.
Key Takeaways from ConstructionFront.com:
- Despite the current economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, DIF and its investees have been actively pursuing assets in the digital infrastructure sector, having recently led the funding round for optical fiber infrastructure expansion in Finland through Valoo (DIF’s investee)
Tonaquint acquires EdgeX Data Centre – About the Companies
Tonaquint - Company Details
Established in 2008 within the heart of St. George, Utah, Tonaquint made significant strides in 2020 by venturing into the Boise, Idaho, market by acquiring Fiberpipe Data Centers, Inc.
Serving an expanding client base across technology, healthcare, financial services, and industrial sectors, Tonaquint offers diverse data center solutions. It focuses on mid-market organizations with an extensive range of offerings, including cloud, colocation, backup, disaster recovery, and network-as-a-service solutions.
In its inaugural year of operation, Tonaquint plans to activate a minimum of 2.5 MW of critical IT load through a phased approach. Remarkably, the EdgeX facility acquisition can add up to 12MW in capacity, with significant potential for future growth.
EdgeX - Company and Data Center Details
Founded in 2021 following the acquisition of a facility developed initially by Devon Energy, EdgeX stands out in the industry by providing robust, high-uptime facilities ideal for businesses with stringent requirements and scalable compute storage and content distribution needs.
The purpose-built EdgeX facility (shown below), designed as a Tier III data centre (further on data centre classification below), primarily services clients in the financial services, digital content distribution, and insurance sectors. It encompasses 65,000 square feet, housing two 10,000 square foot data halls within a highly secure 4-acre campus. Equipped to meet the needs of high-density workloads, the facility includes a water-chilled cooling infrastructure.
Strategically positioned in close proximity to the Will Rogers World Airport, the EdgeX facility taps into the same resilient electrical grid that powers the airport. Engineered to withstand tornado-force winds of up to 310 mph, offering clients increased reliability and security.
How data centres are classified?
Data centres are classified into tiers to indicate their reliability, infrastructure, and uptime availability. The Uptime Institute developed a tier system to standardize data centre performance levels, summarised in the table below.
Tier | Description | Uptime |
I | Basic infrastructure with limited redundancy. It provides a single path for power and cooling distribution without redundant components, resulting in an uptime of around 99.671%. | 99.671% |
II | Offers more redundancy compared to Tier I. It includes redundant components for power and cooling systems, allowing maintenance without disrupting operations. | 99.741% |
III | Concurrently maintainable infrastructure. Maintenance without impacting IT operations. It ensures that each component of the data center can be shut down for maintenance without affecting the IT operations (EdgeX’s facility is a Tier III) | 99.982% |
IV | Highest level of reliability and fault tolerance. It includes redundant systems and components, allowing for any unplanned activity without disrupting services. | 99.995% |
EdgeX data centre is classified as a Tier III data centre.
Tonaquint acquires EdgeX Data Centre – Management Changes and Leadership Comments
The companies confirmed that following the transaction, Terry Morrison, Co-Founder, and CTO of EdgeX, will assume the roles of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Tonaquint.
Willem Jansonius, Partner at DIF and board member at Tonaquint, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, emphasizing its role in expanding the Tonaquint platform into previously underserved markets.
Jansonius warmly welcomed Terry Morrison, acknowledging their addition to Tonaquint’s robust management team. Notably, data centers hold a pivotal position in DIF’s investment strategy, presenting lucrative opportunities for value enhancement alongside reliable cash flows from high-quality contracts.
CEO of Tonaquint, Matt Hamlin, reflected on the collaboration with the EdgeX team, describing the acquisition as a catalyst propelling Tonaquint’s growth trajectory and enabling an expanded service range for its clients.
John Parsons, Co-Founder of EdgeX, echoed the sentiment of excitement, expressing delight at the merging of EdgeX with Tonaquint. Parsons emphasized their anticipation of extending the capabilities of the Tonaquint platform into the vibrant Oklahoma City market, highlighting the shared vision for future collaboration.
