Cogent Communications to sell 10 data centers for $225M
Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement to divest a portfolio of 10 data center facilities to global infrastructure investment manager I Squared Capital for $225 million in cash.
The Washington, D.C.-based internet service provider announced Tuesday that the transaction will be executed via its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary, Cogent Fiber.
The divestiture involves real estate assets originally acquired by Cogent as part of its asset purchase agreement with Sprint's wireline business unit.
The cash proceeds are structurally designated to clear liabilities.
Cogent management previously indicated that capital generated from its initial data center asset sales will be directed entirely into Cogent Communications Group—the company's primary borrowing entity—to accelerate corporate deleveraging and optimize its balance sheet framework.
The 10 purpose-built facilities are owned fee-simple and comprise approximately 53 megawatts of immediate, installed power capacity alongside 259,000 square feet of available colocation space.
The geographic footprint spans nine major U.S. metropolitan markets: Phoenix, Arizona; Anaheim, Burbank, and Stockton, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Elkridge, Maryland; Kansas City, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; and Houston, Texas.
For the buyer, the transaction serves as the cornerstone for a wider corporate rollout.
I Squared Capital will utilize the asset bundle to seed a new standalone U.S. data center operating platform tailored for retail colocation, high-density deployments, and artificial intelligence inference infrastructure.
The investment manager has committed up to $1 billion in total capital to expand this specific footprint through subsequent customer-led expansions and secondary asset acquisitions.
The final close of the transaction is scheduled to take place on or after June 12, 2026.