Avista Capital Partners Acquires DataBank Holdings Ltd.

DALLAS and NEW YORK, June 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- DataBank Holdings Ltd. ("DataBank"), a leading Dallas-based data center operator, and Avista Capital Partners ("Avista"), a leading private equity firm, jointly announced that Avista has acquired DataBank from Freeman Group, a private investment firm. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

DataBank provides managed data center services to over 80 customers, including several Fortune 500 enterprises. DataBank's existing data center facilities are located in the former Federal Reserve Bank building in Dallas' downtown central business district and offer attractive power availability, high infrastructure redundancy, a secure environment and robust telecommunications connectivity.

As part of the transaction, Timothy Moore will join DataBank's existing management team as Chief Executive Officer. Moore, a 10-year veteran of the data center industry, previously held senior sales and management positions at ViaWest and Dataside.

Patrick Guadalajara, who will continue with the company as the President of DataBank, said, "We are very pleased to be partnering with Avista, an established communications investor with expertise in scaling successful businesses. DataBank has enjoyed very high growth over the past several years, and this transaction positions us to expand our leadership in the growing data center industry."

Timothy Moore added, "I am thrilled to be joining DataBank. Together with the existing DataBank management team, I look forward to continuing to deliver to our customers outstanding service, mission-critical levels of availability and cost effective solutions.  Furthermore, I am excited to partner with Avista, a financial sponsor who supports our desire to accelerate DataBank's expansion."

Brendan Scollans, Partner at Avista, said, "The trend of businesses outsourcing IT services, combined with rapidly growing Internet traffic, creates strong secular tailwinds. DataBank is an ideal platform from which to capitalize on these trends, having proven its ability to deliver rapid growth while serving the most demanding blue chip customers. We have dedicated additional capital to expand DataBank's footprint and services both organically and through acquisitions. Most importantly, we are excited to partner with Timothy Moore, Patrick Guadalajara and the rest of the existing management team."

Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to DataBank and Jackson Walker LLP acted as legal advisor to Freeman Group. Ohashi & Horn LLP acted as legal advisor to DataBank's senior management. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to Avista.  

About Avista Capital Partners

Avista Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm managing approximately $4 billion of committed capital with offices in New York, Houston, and London. Founded in 2005, Avista's strategy is to make controlling or influential minority investments in growth-oriented energy, healthcare, media, industrial and consumer businesses. Through its team of seasoned investment professionals and industry experts, Avista seeks to partner with exceptional management teams to invest in and add value to well-positioned businesses. For more information visit: www.avistacap.com.

About DataBank Holdings

DataBank is a leading provider of enterprise class services aimed at providing 100 percent uptime and availability of customer data, applications, and equipment. DataBank's managed data center services are built around its world class 2(N) facilities and multi-homed internet access hub. With these building blocks, DataBank can provide availability solutions for any sized customer. For more information about DataBank, please visit www.databank.com.

Media Contact
Melissa Sheer/James David
Kekst and Company
212-521-4800

SOURCE Avista Capital Partners